


Ringsy Tumblr Prompts

by lockedinmybody



Category: Unter Uns
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Love, M/M, One Shot, Sexual Content, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-11
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-03-29 22:18:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 59
Words: 58,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13936560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lockedinmybody/pseuds/lockedinmybody
Summary: A collection of things I've written about Ringo and Easy on Tumblr, most of them through prompts :)You can also find these ontumblr





	1. 19. “There’s so much blood.”

19\. “There’s so much blood.”

“There’s so much blood.” Easy rolls his eyes at the comment. “No there’s not, you’re just a baby.” He lightly dabs at the cut on the side of Ringo’s hand with a tissue.  
“We should disinfect it though.” Ringo pouts at that, already dreading the sting he knows will come.  
Ringo is sitting on the counter in Easy’s apartment, long legs swinging back and forth. His normally calculated gaze is now hazy.  
Easy bends down to open the cupboard under the kitchen counter, searching for the first aid kit he demanded Tobias got when they first moved in.  
“Eaaaaaasy.”   
He doesn’t bother to look up. “Yes?”  
“I have a cut on my hand, could you look at it?”  
“What do you think we’re doing right now?” Easy snaps the plastic box shut and comes back up with a bottle in hand.  
“Honestly, how did you even manage to get this drunk…” Easy mumbles, grabbing Ringo’s hand, turning it sideways and lightly pressing the tissue against it.  
Ringo actually whines a little at the feeling of the disinfectant touching his skin.   
“I might have had a few too many beers.”  
They’d spent the evening on the rooftop with the whole gang, and Easy already regrets the amount of beers him and Tobias had brought. Easy had stopped himself after two, Ringo clearly hadn’t.  
After a while, Ringo had wished everyone a goodnight and left, only for Easy to hear a crashing sound five seconds later.   
Tobias and Easy had shared a look, Easy muttering, “I’ll go.”  
Ringo had been lying on the stairs upside down, a face scrunched up in pain and legs sprawled across the stairs.  
And now Easy was tending to his wounds. A small scrape on his hand where Ringo had hit the wall but mostly a sour attitude.  
“I just wanted something to do.” Ringo speaks quietly.  
Easy looks up at that, still grasping Ringo’s hand but tossing the tissue aside. “What do you mean?”  
Ringo shrugs, face turning sad. “When you’re all talking…” He trails off.  
Easy stays quiet, looking expectantly at Ringo.  
“I don’t want to say something stupid, or make everyone annoyed at me.” Ringo huffs a little. “But I don’t like sitting there doing nothing. So I drink.”  
Easy’s face turns soft. Drunk Ringo is even more pouty than usual. “Well you do say stupid shit. Maybe you shouldn’t do that.” Easy says it with a teasing smile, but it’s a lot closer to the truth than it sounds.

Ringo turns his gaze towards the floor. “I told you, I’m an-”  
“Don’t say you’re an asshole, Ringo.” Easy interrupts. His harsh words are contradicted by him gently placing Ringo’s injured hand back on Ringo’s lap.  
“You might act like an asshole. But I know from experience you can do better.” Ringo’s jaw hardens, but Easy can see him getting emotional, eyes glazing over.  
“So instead of hiding behind what everyone already thinks of you, you could try to be a better person.” Easy adds, tone quieter.   
Ringo seems to take in Easy’s words, and it’s all Easy could ask for.  
Easy grabs a plaster from the first aid kit, and sticks it over Ringo’s cut. “Thank you.” Ringo says quietly. Easy smiles at him.  
“It’s been a while since someone took care of me.”   
The words cut through the air, and Easy is reminded of how Ringo must miss his parents, even though he doesn’t speak about them.  
Easy smiles at him, patting Ringo’s leg. “Anytime.”  
Ringo slides off the counter, slowly making his way towards the door.   
“Ringo.” He turns at that.  
“Can I…” Easy hesitates, not knowing how Ringo will react.  
Ringo stares at him, his face blank. Easy steps closer.  
“Can I hug you?”  
Easy sees the quick nod, then the slight shimmer of moisture in his eyes and then he’s gathering Ringo in his arms, squeezing him close.  
It feels nice to completely hold Ringo, rubbing over his arms.   
“It’s okay to want someone to comfort you, you know.” Easy whispers.  
He feels more than hears Ringo sigh and slowly he releases him.  
Ringo looks overwhelmed, and he whispers a quiet ‘thanks’, before quickly leaving.  
Easy stares at the door for a few seconds, before walking back.   
Two minutes later he’s sitting on the rooftop again, beer in hand, his heart full and his chest warm.


	2. 2. “You love me as if I deserve you.”

2\. “You love me as if I deserve you.”

The floor creaks softly under Ringo’s feet as he makes his way from Easy’s bedroom to the kitchen. He makes sure to quietly close the door, desperately not wanting to wake Easy.  
He felt embarrassed enough as it was.  
They’d spent the night together. Tobias had been out of the house for a good few hours and Easy had invited Ringo over for dinner, just the two of them.  
Two plates of spaghetti, two beers and a single candle placed in the middle of the table; things had felt light and comfortable in a way that Ringo was not used to.

_“It’s getting late, I should probably go.” Ringo picks at the label of his beer bottle. “Plus, you need to get up early tomorrow morning, mister professional photographer.” Ringo grins._  
“Or you could stay.” Easy says softly. Ringo knows that Easy understands how strange and out of place Ringo could feel in a relationship sometimes, so ‘slow’ had been the key word from the start.  
“Just to be… together.” Easy gives a small smile, letting Ringo know that there’s no pressure.  
Hesitantly, he nods. Allowing himself to lay next to Easy, not because something needs to happen or because that’s what you’re supposed to do when you’re in love but because it feels nice.  
Warm and comfortable. A little uncomfortable at first, trying to figure out where to lay or what he was supposed to do with his hands but Easy simply stroked a hand through his hair and kissed him goodnight.  
And that was that. 

Except it wasn’t. Ringo had woken up after only having slept for about two hours, and now he was standing in the dimly lit kitchen of his boyfriend, nursing a glass of cold water and trying not to feel overwhelmed.  
The door to the apartment slowly creaks open, and Tobias slowly walks in, only to meet Ringo’s gaze with a startled look.  
“What are you doing here?” Tobias asks, placing his bag to the side. He stops for a minute, only now noticing how Ringo is just wearing boxers.  
Tobias pulls a face. “Oh really dude? In my apartment?”  
Ringo rolls his eyes. Tobias and the rest of their friend group were still adjusting to the two of them being together, Tobias having a particularly hard time making peace with it.  
“We didn’t… we weren’t…” Ringo looks down at his half full glass. “Whatever. I’ll go grab my clothes and leave.”  
“Hey no, wait.” Tobias stops him. He looks at Ringo’s face for a moment. “What’s up?”  
Ringo shrugs. “As in, why are you standing around in my kitchen instead of cuddling with my roommate?”  
Tobias slides down into the chair at the table, facing Ringo who leans against the kitchen counter.  
“Easy is…” he starts. “Really nice.”  
Tobias raises his eyebrows. “That a bad thing? Because to be honest, you could use some of that.”  
“Yeah I-” Ringo sighs in frustration. “That’s part of the problem actually.”  
Tobias nods at him in encouragement to go on.  
“We were having dinner together this evening, and I told Easy some things that I had been thinking about for a while and… I don’t know I guess I just freaked out a little.”  
“Well what did you say?”  
Ringo slowly breathes in. “I said: “You love me as if I deserve you.”“  
“Didn’t have you down as a poet.”  
“I’m not.” Tobias smiles at that.  
“That’s just it though. Easy knows that when I say stuff like that, I mean it. I know I don’t deserve Easy, he’s a much better person than I am.  
And I know I should just feel lucky he even wants to be with me in the first place. But I can’t help but worry that he’ll figure out he can do much better and leave.”  
It feels weird, sharing these thoughts with his half-brother. The last time Ringo shared something like this with Tobias must have been when he realised he was bisexual.

Tobias hums. “Well, you know me well enough to know I’m not going to argue much when you say that Easy is a better person than you are.”  
Ringo scoffs. “But anyone who knows you and spends any amount of time around you can see that Easy is good for you.”  
Tobias stands up, moving next to Ringo, knocking their shoulders together. “Ringo I’ve never seen you try this hard to be a better person. That has to count for something right?”  
Ringo meets Tobias’ gaze, and he gives a grateful smile. Tobias places a hand on Ringo’s shoulder. “Night.”

After Tobias goes to bed, Ringo pours himself one more glass of water, vowing to go back to Easy after that.  
“Hey.” He looks up from his glass. Easy is standing in the doorway of his bedroom, hair sticking up, eyes squeezing against the light and a delightful softness about him that makes Ringo’s heart squeeze in his chest.  
He smiles. “Hey.”  
Easy yawns and walks towards him. “What are you doing up? Couldn’t sleep?” Easy grabs the glass from Ringo’s hand and takes a sip. “Something like that.”  
Easy looks at Ringo expectantly. “I’m just really lucky to have you.” Ringo whispers.  
Easy’s face breaks out in a full blown grin at that, dimples forming. He sets the glass down on the counter and stands in front of Ringo.  
“I think we’re both lucky.” He leans up to slowly kiss Ringo, who allows himself to melt against Easy for a bit.  
They break apart, faces hovering inches from each other. “Thank you.” Ringo says softly.  
Easy scrunches his nose and smiles, kissing Ringo’s lips once more. “Let’s go back to bed.”

Easy pulls Ringo back to his bedroom by the hand, and Ringo wakes to a note next to him:  
_“You love me, and I love you. Even when you don’t think I do. Easy x”_


	3. 50. Your choice

Bang.

Another loud bang.

Two loud bangs.

“Tobiaaaaaaaas!” Easy yells from his bedroom, holding his pillow over his head.  
The banging on the door persists and Easy realises that Tobias isn’t home. He reluctantly gets up, grumbling something about this ungodly hour.  
The knocking has stopped but he can see a shadow behind the door.  
He hesitates. “Hallo?”  
There’s some mumbling from the other side but nothing coherent. Easy slowly pulls the door open.  
“Ja! I’ve been waiting here for ages. Listen, I need to talk to you about Easy. He’s so infuriating and-” Ringo lifts his head and blinks.  
“You’re not Tobias.”  
“And you’re drunk.” Easy says, amused.  
Ringo’s eyes become wide. “You’re his hot roommate.”  
Easy gives a small smile at that, which he tries to hide from Ringo. “And you don’t know what you’re saying.”  
“Where is my idiot of a half brother? I need to talk to him, I have a problem.”  
“What kind of problem?” Easy can’t help the concern that floods his voice. “And come in.” He lightly tugs on Ringo’s coat, closing the door behind him.  
“Tobias has a roommate, right.” Ringo languidly lowers himself on Easy’s sofa.   
Easy pulls an eyebrow up at that comment, his back towards Ringo as he pours him a glass of water. Apparently he had already forgotten that said roommate is right in front of him. “Hmm.”  
“And he’s really hot.” Ringo sounds so frustrated that Easy can’t help but snort.  
“But I think he doesn’t like me. I probably annoy him most of the time. We’re not even friends.” Easy rolls his eyes as he walks over, putting the glass down in front of Ringo.  
“Why do you think that.” Easy sits himself down on one of the dinner table chairs.  
“Because he always looks irritated when I’m around him. I want to hang out with him without the rest of our friends but I don’t know how to make that happen.”  
Ringo turns to face Easy and honest to god _pouts_. Easy shakes his head a little, a grin on his face. He could so use this in the future. There is a childlike quality to drunk Ringo that sober Ringo doesn’t often have.  
Easy wishes he could see Ringo be silly more often.   
“So he’s hot yeah, this roommate?”  
Ringo starts nodding his head fervently to an almost comical extent. “But he’s also very cute. He’s got beautiful brown eyes.” Ringo tilts his head in contemplation.  
“He kind of looks like a puppy.” Easy bites his lip to stop himself from bursting out in laughter.  
Ringo’s eyes stay on the glass of water in front of him, all hints of amusement slipping from his features. “It’s probably for the best.”  
“What is?” Easy asks.  
“That he doesn’t want to be with me. That way I can’t hurt him.” Ringo says quietly.  
Easy looks at Ringo. It’s strange to see Ringo like this. It hadn’t been in Easy’s head, there _had_ been something between them. The lingering looks and smiles between them as some sort of inside joke weren’t an illusion.  
Ringo had never done something about it though, which was ironically the thing that had held Easy back. And now he hears that Ringo doesn’t think he’d be good for Easy.

Easy steps to Ringo and squeezes his neck softly. “Have some water. Crash here if you want. We’ll talk in the morning.”

When Easy wakes in the morning, Ringo is gone, the glass washed and back in the cupboard. When they have pizza that evening with the rest of their friends, Easy pretends not to see the flush in Ringo’s cheeks as they greet each other.


	4. 22. “I hate everything about Christmas except…”

22\. “I hate everything about Christmas except…”

“I hate everything about Christmas.” Easy rolls his eyes. “Except for the lights.”   
Easy raises his eyebrows, amused. “What?” Ringo stuffs a piece of cucumber in his mouth. “Lights are pretty, even I can see that.”  
They’re sitting on the roof terrace together, just the two of them. The air is crisp, just the right side of cool.   
The small table in front of them has a bottle of wine on it, their two glasses and a plate full of pieces of cheese, cucumber and cherry tomatoes. The latter was obviously Ringo’s doing (“No we’re not eating a bag of crisps together Easy, we’re adults.”).

“More irrational hatred towards holidays I need to know about?” Easy asks, a small teasing smile playing around his lips.  
Ringo rolls his eyes at that but grins all the same. “Okay, complete honesty?” Easy nods, his full attention now effectively turned towards Ringo.  
“I will moan about how Valentine’s Day has gone completely commercial and lost all of its meaning, but there might be a slight chance I’ll buy you some flowers.”  
Easy laughs. “I don’t mind Valentine’s Day that much.” He takes a slow sip of his wine. “Not too bothered about it either though.” Ringo nods in agreement.

They stay quiet for a while, not much to hear except for a slight breeze every now and then. Some people on the streets below passing by.  
“I used to love Christmas.” Ringo says suddenly. Easy frowns. “Why-” He stops. Ringo looks away.  
“Is it tough without them?” Easy says softly. Ringo nods but keeps his eyes on the glass in front of him.   
“Every time I’m reminded that time has passed and they’re still gone, it’s just…” Ringo takes a shuddering breath.   
“Christmas is so family focused. It just reminds me of what I don’t have.” Easy hums in response.

“I get that. And I’m sorry you have to go through that.” Easy shuffles closer so he’s sitting pressed up against Ringo. He grabs one of Ringo’s hands from his lap and threads their fingers together.  
“You can lean on me a bit though. If you wanted to.” Easy smiles. “And on Paco, and Ellie. Hell, maybe even a little on Tobias.” Ringo huffs at that.  
“Just don’t get it in your head that you’re alone. Because you’re not.” Ringo smiles gratefully at Easy, squeezing his hand. “Danke.”  
Easy leans in a little, pressing his lips against Ringo’s cheek. “You’re welcome.”   
Easy turns his body, still holding Ringo’s hand but leaning his back against Ringo’s chest, folding Ringo’s arm around him.   
Ringo looks down at Easy’s head, feeling an immense wave of gratitude hitting him. He presses his cheek into Easy’s hair.   
“I’m lucky to have you.” He murmurs. Easy squeezes his hand.   
“I see love has made you sappy, Richard Beckmann.”  
Ringo laughs the comment off, even though it’s the first time they’ve used that word in relation to one another.  
“Indeed it has.” Ringo whispers.


	5. 47: “You’re cute when you’re angry.”

As Easy opens the door to Ringo’s (and the rest of the gang) apartment, he’s immediately met by noise. And lots of it.  
Paco and Ellie are sitting at the table, arguing over their honeymoon destination, KayC and Tobias are both in the kitchen angrily bickering about what they should have for dinner and Bambi is somehow also there, looking a bit helpless.  
So yeah, there are a lot of things that his friends don’t agree on. “What’s going on?” Easy asks, standing the open doorway. They all look at him.

 

“Tobias wants to eat pizza. _Again._ ” KayC starts, Tobias rolling his eyes. “Paco is refusing to choose a honeymoon destination that will work with his wheelchair.” Ellie says, looking rather annoyed at her new husband.  
Bambi raises his hand. “I’m… here.”   
Easy snorts. “Right. I actually ordered pizza already, it’s on its way.” KayC opens her mouth, “I’ll cook something healthy tomorrow KayC, don’t worry.”  
Easy turns to Paco and Ellie next. “You should try and find a middle ground. Pick a place that you’ll enjoy when you’re in a wheelchair but don’t go too far away in case something goes wrong.”

He walks further into the apartment, looking around. “Looking for the boyfriend?” Easy doesn’t have to see him to know Tobias has a smug grin on his face.  
“Yeah what happened with him?”, KayC interrupts, “I thought he’d gone all soft now since you two are together?” Easy faces her and raises his eyebrows.  
“Soft?” Everyone makes a noise of agreement. “I’ve never seen Ringo like that.” Bambi says, Ellie agreeing with him. “He’s so smitten.” Paco grins.  
Easy feels his face heat up at the sudden attention on the supposed effect he has on his boyfriend. 

 

“He was in a right mood this morning though.” KayC mentions. “I haven’t seen him all day.” Easy says, worry now growing in the pit of his stomach. His eyes move around the apartment, landing on the red door of the bathroom.  
He walks over and quickly opens the door, moves inside and shuts it behind him, leaving all teasing comments about him taking care of his man behind him.

“Hey.” Easy slides down against the bath, next to Ringo. He turns to Ringo and suddenly he understands what his friends meant.   
All of the softness in Ringo is gone, his features now hard and rigid. Ringo is looking straight ahead, an annoyed look on his face, his jaw clenched.  
“What’s wrong?” Easy asks, and after a few seconds he tries to grab Ringo’s hand but Ringo pulls away. Easy feels startled, and scoots a little further away in an attempt to give Ringo some space.  
A few moments of silence.

And then a deep sigh.

“I’m sorry. Just one of those days.” Easy smiles softly. “What kind of day?”  
Ringo shrugs, and Easy is struck by how childlike he looks in that moment: sitting on the bathroom floor, fiddling with his hands and an almost pout on his face.  
“Sometimes I just wake up and feel angry at everything.” Ringo explains. He sits up a little, turning to face Easy. “I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the piece of me that’s still an asshole.”  
Easy laughs a little at that, feeling more confident now in grabbing Ringo’s hand and squeezing slightly. “You can be less of an asshole if you tell me these things you know.”

 

Ringo bashfully looks to the side. “Not that I’m an expert, but I’d say that one of the nice things about a relationship is that I still like you when you’re grumpy. There’s no need to avoid me on bad days.”  
Ringo brings their hands to his face and kisses the back of Easy’s hand. “Danke.”   
Easy positively glows at that, basking in the fact that Ringo has indeed softened a little, at least with him. Easy holds Ringo’s face in his hands, thumbs stroking over his cheeks for a moment before sliding their lips together.  
Ringo still feels a little tense at first but he let’s it go after a few moments. Easy pulls back a little, his cheeks dimpling as he grins, his eyes dancing over Ringo’s face.  
“You’re cute when you’re angry.” Ringo scowls a little at that but Easy can see there’s no real heat behind it.

 

“Can we go back to yours and stay in your room all night?” Easy quickly pecks Ringo’s cheek as he moves to get up.  
“Of course we can.” He holds out a hand to help Ringo up as well.   
“I will shield you from the world my love.” Ringo snorts, and as they walk out of the apartment they don’t see the looks on their friends faces, Ringo’s mood now lifted.


	6. 177: “You’re so beautiful.”

Weddings weren’t particularly Ringo’s thing. He had been dragged along to weddings of people he didn’t know all that well a couple of times, and it quickly got boring.  
The only upside was the free booze. 

 

Now though, it felt different. Seeing his two friends together who so clearly belong together, having the day of their lives together; it was something else.  
Ringo walks up to Paco, who grins up at him. “Congratulations my man.” Ringo leans down and hugs Paco, squeezing his shoulders a little. Paco clearly didn’t anticipate that, looking a little surprised as he looks at Ringo.  
“I’m really happy for you.” Ringo smiles. His face turns a little more serious. “I won’t forget what you did for me, you know.” Paco smiles softly.  
“I can’t believe you’ve been in a relationship for two seconds and you’re already this soft.” Ringo snorts. “Thanks, good to know you support me.”  
Paco laughs. “I do support you. Maybe it was my own lovestruck haze but you’ve seemed a little more relaxed the past couple of days.”

 

One side of Ringo’s mouth turns up, and his eyes glide over the crowd in Schiller, settling on a slightly tipsy Easy across the room.   
He can tell Easy’s not drunk - he’s seen drunk Easy, and in that case there’s a lot more singing involved - but he’s had just enough beer and an odd glass of wine to feel a little bit buzzed.  
Easy’s talking animatedly to Tobias, eyes wide and hands flapping all over the place. Tobias says something to him and Easy laughs wholeheartedly, throwing his head back with his eyes closed.  
It’s most beautiful thing Ringo’s ever seen, and it makes him feel like he’s had all air punched out of him.   
“I have been.” Ringo says, a relaxed smile on his face, his eyes soft. Paco squeezes his leg. “Go spend some time with the boyfriend then. I have to go find my wife.”  
Ringo smiles down at him, watching as he wheels away and then focuses back on Easy. 

 

He starts making his way through the crowd, picking up two glasses of beer on the way.   
“Hey.” He says softly, gliding an arm around Easy and pulling him close. Easy looks up at him, flushed cheeks and twinkly eyes. “Hey!” It’s a little louder than necessary but Ringo grins anyway.  
Easy threads his fingers through Ringo’s, holding the hand that’s around his shoulder.   
Tobias coughs and they both look at him, realising they’d been all caught up in each other. “Oh Tobias, I think KayC was looking for you.” Ringo says.  
“Really?” Tobias tries to sound cool but he immediately starts fumbling with his tie, looking around the room for a familiar head of blond curls.  
“Yeah, she said something-” Ringo starts but Tobias has already shouldered past him, disappearing into the mob.

 

“Well that was easy.” Ringo says amusedly. Easy giggles a little and turns around with Ringo’s arm still around him, his face turned into Ringo’s chest.  
Easy wraps his arms around Ringo’s waist, holding him tight. Ringo laughs audibly at the feeling of Easy essentially folding himself around him.   
“You okay over there?” Ringo asks. Easy turns his head upwards, using one hand to quickly tug on the top of Ringo’s shirt and folding it open, the tie Ringo was wearing long forgotten.

 

Easy presses his lips against Ringo’s collarbone, moving upwards over his neck and to his jawline. Ringo’s vision feels a little hazy all of a sudden, and he holds Easy a little closer to his chest to hide the both of them as much as possible.  
It’s when he feels Easy’s tongue against his neck and then a feeling of suction that he pulls back a little. “Okay okay, as much as I love that, let’s do that when we’re alone yeah?”  
Easy looks up at him, a dopey smile on his face. “M'kay.” Ringo looks at him, feeling overwhelmingly lucky that he gets to have this .  
“You’re so beautiful.” Ringo says, holding Easy’s face with both hands. He dips down, giving Easy one deep, fierce kiss.   
Easy stays close, rubbing his nose against Ringo’s.   
“You wanna get out of here?”


	7. 77: “Are you jealous?”

Two weeks it had been. Two fucking weeks of misery and distress. Seeing Ringo as hurt as he was maybe should’ve given the selfish part of Easy some gratification, but his heart was far too soft for that.  
It made it worse. Bumping into him when neither of them wanted to see each other, the alarmed looks their friends gave each other they pretended not to notice.

 

There really wasn’t a way to leave a room just as someone else enters, without seeming like you’re avoiding them. Because they _were_ avoiding each other.  
But living so close together and sharing friends made things difficult. Easy could see Ringo was isolating himself, only ever sometimes briefly talking with Paco.  
Easy hated that what happened between them didn’t make him hate Ringo. Someone needed to let Easy’s feelings know that Ringo had hurt him badly and that he wasn’t good for him.  
His stomach still drops when he catches a glimpse of Ringo, a flash of the man he was dangerously close to loving.

 

On one occasion Easy had been sitting on the couches of the living room of Ringo’s apartment, talking with his friends and welcoming the distraction when Ringo emerged from the bathroom and walked out of the apartment in a straight line.  
Easy had been in bed that night, not being able to get the image of Ringo’s tear-streaked face out of his mind, the tops of his cheeks red from where Ringo had probably been furiously rubbing the tears away.

And then Hauke showed up. Easy could sense Hauke was still a little tense with him, but he had asked Easy if he’d want to catch up over a drink.  
Which was why they were now sitting in Schiller, both with a beer in front of them. Hauke tells Easy about returning to America, getting used to a different lifestyle again.  
Easy sits there, eyes moving over Hauke’s face as he talks.   
“And how have things been… here.” Hauke asks, slumping down in his seat. Easy gives a small smile. Not only does he not want to tell Hauke about Ringo because it feels painful, but it’s also none of his business.  
“Not much. I’ve been busy with photography jobs and all that.” Hauke is a polite enough to ask a few follow up questions, but Easy knows there’s nothing left between them.  
If either Hauke or Easy would stop pushing the conversation, it would be over. 

 

But Easy knows the time he did spend with Hauke was good. Not great, because he’d already lost his heart to someone else but that wasn’t Hauke’s fault.  
And so he tries a little harder. Starts asking more questions, trying to look more interested in Hauke’s stories.  
He rests his chin on the palm of his hand as he listens, a small smile on his face.

From behind Hauke he sees the door open. The next five seconds are probably the longest interaction he’s had with Ringo in weeks, both of them staring at each other.  
Ringo’s face is unreadable, and Easy thinks for a moment he’ll just turn around and walk back out.

 

But then he sees Ringo quickly glance at Hauke, and he rolls his eyes before walking up to the bar. It’s the most responsive thing he’s gotten from Ringo and it angers Easy to no end.  
“I…” Easy inhales deeply. “I have to go.” He tells Hauke, and immediately stands up to leave. He knows it only adds to the list of unfair things he’s done to Hauke but everything feels like it’s closing in and Easy just wishes he didn’t care so _damn much_.

He slams the door behind him and stands in the middle of the street for a few moments, breathing heavily. It’s all too reminiscent of the night Ringo kissed him during Carnival and it makes Easy feel like he can’t escape Ringo and the feelings he has for him.

 

“Well that’s mature.” He hears from behind him and Easy spins around. Ringo has a scowl on his face and his jaw is tensed up.  
“You,” Easy takes a slow step towards Ringo, “do not get to tell me what mature is.”  
Ringo crosses his arms and looks to the side, and Easy wonders why he followed him out here.  
Easy searches Ringo’s face for a moment.   
“Are you jealous?”  
Ringo opens his mouth, as if he immediately wants to disagree, but closes it again.   
“Because you don’t have a right to be.” Easy looks Ringo in the eyes, head tilting upward as he forces himself to stand close to Ringo, wanting and needing to see the impact of his words.  
“You and I were nothing. You lied to me all along. Used me.” He can see Ringo’s eyes water slightly but he pushes on.  
“You never cared about me. All you care about is money.”  
Two fat droplets fall on Ringo’s cheeks.  
“I hate myself for what I did to you. Nobody deserves that.” Easy scoffs at that.  
“No, I do.” Ringo repeats. “I never should have done it. Especially with you, because I-”

 

He stops himself. Ringo looks like he’s debating whether or not he should finish that sentence.  
“I loved you.” That feels like a blow to Easy’s stomach.  
“I still do, but I know you don’t want that.” Ringo looks incredibly lost in that moment and Easy feels like he can’t breathe. Ringo is both too close and too far away.  
“I’m sorry.” Ringo whispers, and he walks away, leaving Easy dumbfounded in the middle of the street.


	8. 13: “Don’t leave me…” Part 1

“Don’t leave me.” Easy is very much aware that they’re standing in the middle of a very busy trainstation, some people pushing past them to board the train and this is possibly the _most cliché moment_ in his life but Easy doesn’t care anymore.  
Ringo is looking at him like he doesn’t know what to do with himself, his hand gripping the handle of his suitcase so tight his knuckles are white.  
“Easy, we can’t…” Ringo trails off, his breathing a little laboured, like he’s trying to control himself.  
“Yes we can.” Easy says. “Because I can’t let you go, Ringo.” Easy can feel his throat close up a bit.  
“The way I feel about you… I’ve never felt like that about anyone before.” Easy takes a step closer to Ringo.  
“I will never forgive myself if I don’t give us a chance. Now.”  
Ringo bites his lower lip hard, eyes moving from one point to another but never focused on Easy.

“Look I know-” Easy cuts himself off, sighing in frustration.  
“My train leaves in five minutes, I better get on now.” Ringo says, and when Easy looks at him Ringo has removed all signs of hurt and heartbreak from his face.  
“No! You can’t go!” Easy says louder now, tears pricking in the corners of his eyes.  
“When people do things like what I did to you, you don’t forgive them. You let them go because they’ll only hurt and damage you.” Ringo says sternly, almost as if he needs Easy to cut him loose.

 

“Well what about what’s between us? You think these feelings will just go away? Because they won’t! It will eat at you and because you’re you you’ll bottle everything up and not talk to anyone about it!”  
Easy feels wet drops fall on his cheeks and he stumbles forward, hands gripping the sides of Ringo’s jacket. “See! I know that because I know you! Because I love you and because I want you more than I am angry at you!”  
Easy shakes Ringo a little, needing his words to sink in. Ringo looks down at him and blinks a few times, frowning as he sees how upset Easy is and moves his arms so he can hold him, tugging Easy closer.  
“Hey, it’s okay.” He hushes as Easy leans his forehead on Ringo’s chest. “I’m sorry.” whispers Ringo.  
Easy sniffs as he pulls back. “I know you are. And even though it will take time and you’ll need to talk to me before you do stupid shit in the future,” Easy wipes at his eyes.  
“I really want to be with you.” He finishes.

 

Ringo gives a small smile at that, hesitating before moving a hand through Easy’s hair.  
“I want that too.” Ringo says. “But I don’t deserve it and you and I both know that.”  
Easy stands on his tiptoes and presses his lips against Ringo’s cheek, holding Ringo close for a moment before letting him go again.  
“Then I’ll let you make it up to me.”


	9. 13: “Don’t leave me…” Part 2

“One night. We talk, we spend some time together and you can stay over if you want. And we take it from there.”  
Easy had made it sound quite simple but they both knew it wasn’t.  
Ringo was terrified, to say the least. Not only had he gotten a second chance he knew he wouldn’t deserve even if he’d spend the rest of his life apologizing to the people he’d hurt, but Easy was inviting him over.  
They had both been unsure what their next step should be, Easy desperate to be close to Ringo but knowing they had to take their time and Ringo still ridden with guilt, scared of doing the wrong thing and messing everything up all over again.

And now they were alone. Easy had asked Tobias to go spend the night somewhere else, which had led to Tobias asking a few prying questions and Easy glaring at him until he’d packed his things and left.  
Easy is cooking, the door of the apartment open and a waft of tomato coming out into the hallway.  
A small knock sounds on the side of the wall. “Hey.” Ringo says, his voice quiet and unsure.  
Easy shifts his attention from the pan to the door, Ringo’s entire demeanor showing he had not anticipated they would ever get here again. Ringo’s eyes look around the apartment, his feet still behind the doorstep.

 

“Hey. Come in.” Easy softly smiles, closing the door behind Ringo.  
“I eh, brought this.” Ringo awkwardly shows Easy a bottle of wine, putting it on the table after a moment.   
“Oh thanks! Dinner is almost ready, why don’t you grab two glasses and pour us both some wine.”  
Easy finishes up with their meal and Ringo quietly moves around him, as not to disturb him.

 

Easy places the pan of pasta on the table and takes his seat opposite of Ringo.   
“So. Are you going to walk on eggshells all evening?”  
Ringo looks a little distraught at the question. “I don’t-”  
“You don’t have to be so careful. Just relax a little and we’ll see where it goes.” Easy gives Ringo a reassuring smile, understanding why Ringo’s holding back but desperate to get back the boy he loves.

They eat in silence for a few moments before Easy suggests they could watch a movie together, moving their plates and glasses to the couch and settling there.  
When the food is finished and Easy’s pouring them both their second glass of wine, Ringo speaks up.

 

“How can you still want to be with me after everything I did?”  
Easy stills for a moment, putting the bottle down and sitting back next to Ringo.  
“Do you…” Easy looks down at his hands for a moment, “do you regret doing what you did to me? Do you see now that hurting people in order to get what you want is not worth the outcome?”  
Ringo’s chin wobbles slightly and he nods.  
“Then that’s how.”

 

If it took Ringo a little while to get used to being in Easy’s apartment again, it might take a bit longer to get used to Easy’s bed again.  
Easy had checked with him, soft whispers trying to gage if he wanted to stay or if this had been enough for one night.  
Ringo keeps his shirt on, and Easy notices but doesn’t comment. They both lay down, next to each other but not touching.

 

It feels like it’s been minutes, just staring at the ceiling, when Easy feels Ringo’s hand grab his. Easy looks to the side, the moonlight falling over Ringo’s face.  
“You okay?”  
Ringo nods, rolling on his side to look at Easy.

“I don’t know if it’s unfair to say this now, but you’ve said it and I wanted to say it too.” Ringo licks his lips.  
“I love you, Easy.” Ringo reaches out, fingers gliding over the side of Easy’s face, dipping into his dimple as Easy can’t stop a smile from forming.

It doesn’t take that much longer before Easy’s head is resting comfortably on Ringo’s chest, Ringo’s arm coming around Easy.   
Ringo can feel Easy’s breathing, can see his own arm which lays over Easy rising and falling slightly, the concrete proof that _this is real and happening_.  
He waits a few moments, and thinks Easy has fallen asleep.

“Don’t leave me.” Ringo whispers, thinking that if he says it, speaks it out into the universe maybe some type of reverse karma force could give him the thing he doesn’t deserve.

“I won’t.” Easy whispers back, clearly not asleep, lifting his head for a moment to kiss Ringo’s chest and then to move back down again.   
Ringo falls asleep that night quicker than he has in weeks, something light nestling in his chest.   
Maybe he won’t need anything supernatural. He’ll just hold on to what he has right now.


	10. 8: “I don’t need you anymore.”

They’d had the big climax. Ringo knew he had done something incredibly damaging, and it had been hanging over his head for weeks.   
Constantly torn between wanting to come clean to Easy with the almost certain consequence of losing him, and just enjoying the time they spend together whatever was coming his way at the end.

 

The love he felt for Easy had washed over him, taking him down and drowning him in one smooth move. He had cursed himself multiple times for ruining something so great before it had a chance to bloom.

It scared Ringo too. He went into this knowing he had set himself up to fail, but even the short time he got to enjoy being Easy Winter’s boyfriend had been the best thing that ever happened to him.  
He couldn’t stop the thoughts in his head that told him it was better this way. You wouldn’t have deserved him either way. It’s better to stop it now because you would have found a different way to ruin it.

Ringo had felt nothing and everything in the weeks that followed their breakup. He hadn’t known love could hurt like this - mostly because he had never allowed himself to find out.  
But he didn’t regret loving Easy, no matter how much it hurt now. In the end, that may be the thing that stings the most.

He’d gone up to the roof terrace, something he did when he needed to sort his head out. He’d spent a lot of time there in the past few weeks.

Ringo turns his head as the door clicks open and Easy stumbles onto the terrace. Easy’s eyes widen at seeing Ringo but he doesn’t immediately leave, and Ringo can’t look away either.  
“What are you doing here.” Easy asks, his voice not as friendly as before but not as cold as Ringo deserves.  
“Needed to clear my head. Didn’t want to be in the way.” Ringo speaks quietly. The entire gang wasn’t really speaking to him anymore, and Ringo had never felt more inconvenient and superfluous.  
They’re both quiet for a while, and Ringo thinks Easy’s going to leave any moment.

“I think I need to say something. Can you just be quiet for a bit?” Easy asks, a determined look on his face. Ringo blinks, nodding.

 

“I thought you were a horrible person. I really hated you for a while, back before we were friends.” Ringo tries not to wince but fails.

“You’ve done some horrible things. And I don’t think I’ve ever really seen you regret them.” Easy hesitates, before adding: “until now.”  
Ringo looks out over the terrace, the darkened city laid out in front of him, trying to find something to hold onto.

 

“And then for some reason I got a soft spot for you.” Easy drags a hand through his hair, huffing out a humourless laugh like he can’t believe what he’s saying.  
“We became friends for fuck’s sake. And I started seeing all the little things that you hope people don’t notice as much.”

Easy starts walking around. “Because you do care, as much as you like being distant and indifferent. You care about Tobias as much you annoy him, you care about Paco and Ellie.”  
Ringo bites his lip, feeling his eyes water and turning to face Easy again.  
“And I really started caring for you, you know. Everytime I’d talk to Tobias about you it’s like we were talking about two different people.”  
The truth of that hits Ringo in the gut, knowing full well he’s willing to better himself for Easy.

“We dated. And I felt like I needed to be around you, be as close to you as possible.” Easy walks over to Ringo, standing next to him against the wall.   
“I don’t need you anymore.” Ringo can feel more tears pricking at the back of his eyes, and it takes everything in him to keep his eyes on Easy and not run away as fast as he can.

“But I still want you.”  
The hurt and bitterness in Easy’s face breaks, and he wells up as he gives a small smile.  
Ringo looks at Easy, not believing what he’s hearing.

 

“I want the guy who sees me from across the room, looking to see if I’m okay.” Easy holds a hand to Ringo’s cheek, Ringo’s eyes fluttering closed as he shudders at the contact.  
“I want the teasing, I want the smiles and those laughs you have when you’re completely relaxed. I want you to talk to me, to confide in me when something’s bothering you.”  
Easy’s eyes turn a little more serious for a moment.  
“But I need you to promise me you’ll be better. I can’t do this again.”

Ringo nods as more tears fall down his face.   
He knows he’s going to have to make an effort to make this work, but he’s never been more willing to try for anything in his life.


	11. 190: “We can’t do that here!”

“No Easy, stop it!” Ringo puts his hands on Easy’s chest, wanting to keep them there but pushing slightly. “We can’t do that here!”  
Easy is sitting on the countertop in his and Tobias’ kitchen, legs wrapped around Ringo’s hips and arms slung over his shoulders.  
He pulls back for a moment and looks at Ringo, eyes squinted. “Why? What’s wrong?” Ringo looks at him, not knowing what to say.

 

Slowly, Easy pulls his hands back. “Do you not… want to-” Ringo holds the side of Easy’s face and puts his thumb over Easy’s mouth.   
“Of course I do.” The relief is immediately visible on Easy’s face as he exhales on a smile.  
“Then what’s wrong?”  
Ringo sighs and looks away. It hadn’t been that long since they’d gotten back together, and already Ringo could feel it was different this time around.  
Most of it was for the better, obviously.

His love for Easy had only grown, and not out of guilt. They had started talking a lot more, once Easy had forgiven him. Getting to know each other had helped both of them.  
Easy felt like he could now somewhat understand where Ringo was coming from and why he did what he did - but he never condoned it, and neither did Ringo.

 

Ringo in turn only kept seeing more things that made him more fond of Easy.   
He had concluded that he fell in love with the best person he had ever met, and there was no one he’d rather be a good person for than for him.

“You’re usually not this shy about sex. At least not with me.” Easy interrupts Ringo’s thoughts.  
Ringo rolls his eyes and smirks. “I never said I don’t want that.” He leans forward and captures Easy’s lips in a wet open-mouthed kiss. “You know I do.”  
Easy looks positively dazed, eyes focused on Ringo’s lips.

“I might be a little scared of Tobias hating me for the rest of my life and him never forgiving me for what I did.” Ringo blurts out.  
Easy’s eyes snap up to his. Their friends knew they were trying to work things out but they didn’t know they were pretty much back together.

 

Ringo preferred it this way; it reduced his chance of getting slapped by about 100%.

Now that he didn’t have to lie or pretend everything was okay, it was easier to surrender himself to his feelings for Easy. He wanted to stay in that bubble for as long as they could.

“They will forgive you, you know. Once they see that I have, and how happy you make me.” Easy squeezes his shoulder.   
Ringo looks down at him, Easy’s eyes a lighter shade of brown because of the sunlight hitting them and a care-free smile on his face.   
Not for the first time that day it hits him how lucky he is.  
“I hope so.” Ringo says quietly. Easy grins and hooks his ankles closer together, pulling Ringo towards him. “I just keep worrying,” Easy hums as he kisses Ringo’s cheek, down his neck, “about how Tobias could walk in any moment.”  
Easy stills his movements.  
“Can we not talk about your brother when I’m trying to seduce you?”  
Ringo bursts out laughing. “That was seduction, was it?” Easy flutters his eyelashes. “Yes, didn’t you notice?”  
Ringo bites his lower lip, amusement now gone and replaced with something more intense. “I always notice, because you’re always hot.” Easy swallows hard, eyes seeming to darken slightly.  
“Wanna move this to a less public place?”


	12. "If Ringo had confessed to Easy on time."

It’s the day after Carnival. There are empty beer bottles everywhere and the streets are strewn with confetti and pieces of costumes that got left behind amidst the partying.  
Ringo agreed to go on a date with Easy last night, knowing he should keep his distance as he was getting ready to leave the Schillerallee but not having the strength to turn Easy down.

He’s sitting in the bathroom on the edge of the bathtub, when Ringo pulls out his phone to text Easy.

_I’m sorry, I can’t do this._

_I’m sorry, you deserve better than me._

_I’m sorry._

They’re all true but he knows he owes Easy the truth. He had an entire plan laid out, all set to move away and leave Easy to deal with the aftermath.  
But after last night, he knows that if he wants to even slightly deserve Easy’s love, he has to make changes. Start fresh somehow. Break the pattern.

“Ringo?”

The door to the apartment clicks shut and Ringo shoves his phone back in his pocket.

“Are you here?”  
“In the bathroom.”  
“Can I come in?”  
“Yes.”

The door to the bathroom swings open and Easy leans against the doorway, a relaxed smile on his face. “I have an idea where we could go.”  
Ringo feels his chest ache at the thought that Easy has been thinking about their date as much as he has.  
“Hmhm.” He knows his less than enthusiastic reply is enough to raise a few flags with Easy.  
“Our date is still on right?” Ringo looks up at Easy, and slowly the smile fades from Easy’s face, his brows pulling together.  
“You don’t want to anymore.”  
“I do.” Ringo immediately rebukes.

Easy stays silent, looking at him expectantly. Ringo sighs, scooting a bit to his left and tapping the space to his right.   
Easy steps inside the bathroom, locking the door behind him and sitting down next to Ringo.

“I need to tell you something.” He’s not looking at Easy but he knows there’s a look of worry on his face.  
“For weeks I’ve wanted nothing more than to be close to you. To spend more time with you, going on dates.”   
Ringo can see himself walking down the street, a grin on his face and his hand in Easy’s. It’s the kind of image he didn’t think he’d ever want, but with Easy it looks perfect.  
“But whilst my feelings for you are genuine,” Ringo takes a breath and closes his eyes for a moment, “the way we grew… closer, isn’t.”  
He looks to his side where Easy is looking at him, eyes cloudy. “What do you mean.”

“I want you. But before I realised I wanted you, I only ever wanted money.” Ringo can feel himself getting frustrated as he speaks, his hands folded together, nails digging into his palm.  
“I told Huber I could get you to sell the kiosk and the beach. And when you sold it to me, I sold it to him.” He hears Easy exhale harshly.  
“All of the things that have been bothering you the past months… it was all me.” Ringo squeezes his eyes shut and opens them again, forcing himself to look at Easy.

 

“I spread the lies about how your kiosk was unhygienic, I placed the firecracker, I put the mice there, I caused the fire, I kept pushing you to do more photography so that you would want to get rid of the kiosk…”  
Easy stands up now, chest rapidly moving up and down as he leans against the wall.   
“I wanted you to go to LA with Hauke so that you would want to sell the kiosk.” Ringo can feel his eyes water as he lists all of the things he did. He can’t help but feel that a year ago, this wouldn’t have bothered him. Now, he’s never been more dissapointed in himself.  
“I shut your phone off so that you missed your alarm,” Easy’s eyes widen at that, “and then I made sure that the car didn’t work. Because I knew if you had to pay that fine, I could offer to buy the kiosk in order to get you your money.”

“You fucking.. I can’t believe you-” Easy stops himself, anger radiating off of him. Ringo isn’t one to be intimidated but he has never wanted to hide more than now.  
“I wanted the money. I kept telling myself that.” Ringo shakes his head absentmindedly, knowing how hurtful it had been to the people around him and to himself that he denied his feelings for as long as he did.

 

“And then we became friends. And I realised that even when I didn’t have to, I still _wanted_ to spend time with you. I wanted to be with you so badly.”  
Easy stays quiet, his eyes trained on Ringo. “I dreamed about you. You got under my skin quicker than I thought possible and I got overwhelmed. I shut down and thought if I just stuck to the original plan it would go away.”  
Easy scoffs and crosses his arms. “But it didn’t. And now I ruined things between us, even though I don’t think I have ever loved anyone like I love you.”

Ringo blinks away a few tears. “But I’d rather lose you by being truthful than keep you because of the lies.”  
He looks up at Easy who looks like he’s at a loss for words. He can see his honesty is getting to him but he also has every right to be angry.  
“I would only want to be with you if I deserved you. And I don’t.” Ringo finishes.

Easy opens and closes his mouth a few times, struggling to find the words.  
“I-… Fuck Ringo why did you do this.” Easy chokes on his words, tears springing into his eyes.  
“Because I thought I knew what I wanted. And now I have the money but I lost what was truly important.” Ringo bites his lip hard.

There’s a few moments of silence before Ringo speaks up again.  
“I am going to transfer the money to you. That way you can pay the fine. I know that doesn’t undo what I did, but hopefully it gives you less shit to deal with.”  
Easy looks at him through watery eyes. “I am going to work as hard as I can to get the kiosk and the beach back. I will delete your number from my phone and I will leave you alone.”  
Ringo sits for a few more moments, wanting to give Easy the opportunity to lash out at him, but he doesn’t.  
Ringo nods once at Easy, stands up and then leaves.

***

Ringo does everything he promised Easy. He stays in his room as often as he can, but even when he gets downstairs Easy (or Tobias for that matter) is never there.  
The anger he didn’t get from Easy, he gets from Tobias, who stalked up the spiral staircase one night and yelled at him. Ringo took it, knowing he deserved it.  
He sometimes accidentally bumps into Tobias in the stairwell of the building, but he mostly just gets glared at.  
One day he doesn’t get glared at, he just gets a nod and when he gets home later that day he hears his roommates talk with Tobias about how Easy had paid the fine.

He sleeps both better and worse. The guilt and the lies are gone, but the emptiness Easy left isn’t easily filled.  
He’s glad the nightmares and the tension in the pit of his belly are gone, but he misses the warmth of having Easy next to him, the weight of Easy’s arm slung over his stomach.  
He starts pulling more shifts at the gym whilst trying to also study for his big exam.

 

The first time he sees him again is on a rainy Wednesday afternoon. He doesn’t have to go to uni, he has a day off from work and the weather isn’t particularly inviting.  
He sits by the window and stares, when the door swings open, and: “Ellie, I got you that-” Easy stops in his tracks.  
Ringo slowly turns his head to look at him. The cold and disinterested way Easy’s looking at him is hard to stomach.  
“I’ll leave.” Ringo says quietly, and starts making his way up the stairs.

The next day he gets woken up by his half brother, shouting at him from the foot of his bed.   
“What did you do? He was on his way to getting over you and now he’s completely broken again!” Tobias is properly angry, veins in neck sticking out.  
Ringo’s eyes widen slightly. He thinks about what he might have done to upset Easy other than _seeing him_ but he comes up with nothing.  
“I didn’t do anything. He walked into the apartment when I happened to be sitting downstairs, and I saw how he reacted so I immediately went upstairs.”  
Tobias stays quiet for a bit, huffs a little and then storms back out.

The day after that he’s sitting in Schiller with a coffee, his iPad and some notepads in front of him when he sees Paco coming in.  
He thinks about leaving, but decides against it. Paco rolls up to him. “Hey.”  
Ringo looks up from his work and greets him back. “I know it might be tough now, but who knows? Maybe in time, Easy will-”  
“Easy won’t do anything, Paco.” Ringo interrupts. “And rightfully so. I made a mess of things, he doesn’t owe me anything.”  
Paco frowns. “I didn’t mean…” “I know.” Ringo gives him a small smile.   
“I’m just trying to get back on track, and he’s probably doing to the same.” Ringo scoots his chair backward. “Coffee?” Paco nods as Ringo stands up and walks to the bar.  
When Paco looks across the table, he sees the notepad Ringo was writing on, as well as the iPad left on what Ringo was looking at.  
At the top of the notepad, it reads: “Loopholes Huber”, and on the iPad there are three tabs open on laws surrounding building grounds and licensing.

It’s two days after that when Ringo decides to go for a jog, at night. He’s done that more often in the past couple weeks, the dark and quiet of the night easier to handle.  
He tries to focus on the thumps of his feet hitting the ground, the music flowing from his earbuds serving as a distraction but every song somehow turns into a love song.

Ringo always thought that everything revolved around money but now, when he looks a little closer, he sees that love is everywhere. So much so that he doesn’t know how he didn’t notice it before.  
He sees the way that Paco and Ellie only seem to have grown closer, even after their first post-marriage fight.   
He sees the way Tobias and KayC push and pull from each other, but even amidst the bickering it’s blindingly obvious they love each other.  
He thinks of himself, allows himself to picture having a relationship with Easy and he only sees himself becoming a better man for it.

When he jogs back into the Schillerallee he pulls out his earbuds, feeling his legs tremble from trying to tire himself out.   
He’s breathing harshly, slowing his walk as he goes. His eyes fall on the gym, where someone is slumped against the door.   
He walks closer, and sees that it’s Easy. “What are you doing here?” Ringo says, still a little out of breath.  
Easy’s head shoots up at the sound of Ringo’s voice, and he immediately scrambles to get up.   
“You’ve said enough, I want to say something now.” Easy steps closer to him, eyes intent in a way that Ringo hasn’t seen before.

“I have been,” Easy takes a breath, “incredibly angry at you. I still am.” Ringo stays quiet, keeping his eyes on Easy.   
The streetlights paint Easy’s face a warm yellow, and Ringo wants to drown himself in those whiskey eyes.  
“But I just need to know.” Easy takes a final step, pressing himself against Ringo’s chest and grabbing his face with both hands.  
There’s a moment of hesitation, Easy searching Ringo’s face for a sign that he shouldn’t do this, before he slots their lips together.  
Ringo doesn’t think he has ever been kissed more fiercely, and he can feel Easy willing him to give in.

Easy pulls away, still holding Ringo’s face with both hands.  
“Just answer me this: what did you just feel? Not what do you think with your stupid, money-greedy, arrogant brain but what did you feel?” Easy shakes Ringo’s face a little.  
“Because if you just felt your stomach flip, and you’ve felt calmer than you have in weeks, then you really need to listen to your heart more often.”  
Ringo exhales on a shaky smile, and Easy’s face breaks into a smile too.  
They stay quiet for a moment. 

“I’m still so sorry.” Ringo says, face turning more serious.  
“I’m still a bit angry.” Easy admits.  
Easy grabs Ringo’s hand.   
“But we’ll work it out. Together.”


	13. 57: “Is that my shirt?”

“I’m just saying, it would be a fair system if you brought something every time you guys eat at ours.” Ellie says, taking a sip from her coffee.   
Tobias looks absolutely outraged at that statement, and Easy can only hide his grin behind his mug.   
They’re sitting in Schiller with their friends: Ellie and Paco, Bambi and Sine, KayC and Saskia and Tobias and Easy.  
Easy pulls his phone from his pocket and checks for the tenth time that minute, but he has zero messages.  
At his worried expression Tobias immediately catches his eye. Easy gives him a reassured smile.

He’s about to go get another coffee when the door opens, a slightly disheveled Ringo walking in. His hair is wet, and his cheeks are flushed.  
“Hey guys!” Ringo grins as he walks to their table. Ringo unzips his hoodie and shakes his hair with his hand, droplets of water flying around him.  
Easy swears time slows down for a moment, and he’s half-tempted to drag Ringo back to his room.

 

He looks absolutely beautiful, a relaxed smile on his face and fond eyes focused on Easy.  
Easy can’t help but smile back at him, the thrill of being close to him again after a long day not having worn off.   
His eyes trails down his long neck, his collarbone and his stomach.

Hold on.

“Is that my shirt?” Easy blurts out. Everyone at the table now looks at Ringo, who rolls his eyes with an amused smile.  
“Oh, how cute! They’re sharing clothes!” Ellie coos, Ringo’s cheeks flushing a deeper shade of red whilst Easy just can’t stop looking at him.  
Ringo walks around the table until he’s standing behind Easy, holding his arms over Easy’s shoulders.   
He leans over Easy. “Can I not wear my boyfriend’s clothes?”   
Easy holds his hands over Ringo’s arms. “You can. It looks quite good on you.”  
Ringo grins, leaning down to kiss Easy, ignoring the disgusted noises from their friends.

Easy scoots to the side, making room for Ringo to sit next to him. Once Ringo’s seated he moves closer again, throwing an arm over the back of Easy’s shoulders.

 

Easy looks across the table, listening to his friends’ bickering, and when he looks to his side Ringo smiles at him in that way he does when he wants Easy to know they’re okay.  
 _I’m here. I’m happy to see you. I couldn’t wait to be with you again._  
He leans further into Ringo, a content smile on his face.   
Maybe that’s what love is. It doesn’t matter where they are, as long as they’re together.


	14. "Valentin comes back and Easy gets jealous."

Ringo gets up first. Call it a bigger need for coffee, because he sure as hell doesn’t want to leave his warm spot next to Easy.  
“Really? You’re choosing coffee over me?” Easy whines from the bed.  
“I’m choosing breakfast over you,” Ringo corrects while pulling on his jeans, “and it’s only temporary. We were gonna go for a walk remember? Make the most of our day off together?”  
He pulls the door open, hoping the scent of coffee will be enough to properly wake Easy.  
“Morning!” Tobias walks into the kitchen. Naked.  
“Dude, I do not need to see your junk first thing in the morning.” Ringo complains. He turns on the coffee maker.  
“Or at any point in the day for that matter.”

“Hey you know what you signed up for. Easy and I are a package deal.” Tobias shrugs.  
Easy strolls into the kitchen, now dressed as well. “Sometimes I feel like you guys forget you are brothers.”  
Ringo and Tobias turn towards Easy at the exact same time. “Half brothers.” They correct in unison.  
Easy just raises his eyebrows with an amused smile, taking a seat at the table to start on his breakfast.

It takes them half an hour before they finally make their way outside. Tobias had already gone to work, fake-gagging and leaving them to their breakfast.  
They start walking side by side, Ringo’s hands stuffed in the pockets of his coat.  
“So, where do you wanna go.” He asks.   
Easy doesn’t answer at first, tugging on Ringo’s arm until the hand comes out of the pocket, grabbing it with his own and letting their joint hands swing between them.  
Easy squeezes his hand and Ringo looks at him, smiling.

Since they’d gotten back together, Ringo had let Easy take all of the steps. He gave reassurance where needed, that Ringo was there now, fully committed but wanting to do it right.  
He never wanted to assume they were ready for something, including letting other people know they were back together.  
It kind of made it more special when Easy did show affection for him, and the feeling he got when Easy wasn’t afraid to _choose_ Ringo, _over and over again_ , was downright glorious.

“We could go to the park maybe?” Easy suggests, nearing the end of the Schillerallee now.  
Ringo is about to respond when he gets interrupted.  
“Ringo? Easy? Is that you?”   
A familiar head of blonde hair makes its way toward them, and before they know what’s happening Valentin is standing in front of them.  
“Valentin, hey!” Ringo says with a grin on his face.  
“What are you doing here?”  
Valentin looks equally pleased to see Ringo. “Not much, just a short visit.” His eyes fall on Easy and Ringo’s hands.  
“Clearly I missed a lot though!” Valentin looks like he doesn’t know if he’s happy or weirded out by Easy and Ringo’s apparent relationship and it makes something turn in Easy’s stomach.

Ringo blushes slightly, and the thought that he’s embarrassed about their relationship crosses Easy’s mind.  
He’s half tempted to let go of Ringo’s hand and let the two of them catch up, but he doesn’t.  
“We’re together.” Ringo settles. Valentin offers his congratulations and Easy can’t help but feel like he’s in the way.

“So how have you been?” Ringo asks, and Easy can see the interest on his face is genuine.   
Valentin starts talking and Easy’s eyes are fixed on the way Ringo seems to absorbing every word.   
Easy feels like he’s seeing a different side of Ringo, and he feels weirdly protective over it. _He_ wants to be the person who knows Ringo inside out.  
 _He_ gets to be the man who sees every version of Ringo, and the thought that Ringo has a special way with Valentin makes the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

Easy hadn’t even realised he had been zoning out until he hears Ringo say: “Well, we should go. But maybe we’ll catch you later!”  
Valentin agrees and then walks off, and Ringo’s already tugging on Easy’s hand to walk again.

“So, park?” Ringo asks. Easy gives a low hum of non-interested agreement, and he can see Ringo looking at him from the corner of his eye.  
“Well you sound less interested than before.” Easy can actually _hear_ the smug grin in Ringo’s voice. He stays silent.  
“Would that have anything to do with who we just bumped into?”   
Easy doesn’t respond, and this time Ringo’s face turns serious. He stops walking.  
“Hey, look at me.” Ringo takes Easy’s face in both his hands, shaking it from side to side for a moment.

“I’m not in love with Valentin.” He speaks the words slowly, keeping his eyes on Easy’s. “I don’t think I ever was.”  
Easy can feel how relieved he is at that, and it makes him hate that part of himself.  
“I am,” Ringo presses his lips against Easy’s forehead with a loud smack, “however,” then his cheek, “very much,” then his other cheek, “in love with you.”, then his lips.  
Easy breaks into a smile at that, loving how gentle and affectionate Ringo can get.

Ringo takes Easy into his arms. “Yes? Understood?”  
The corner of Easy’s mouth tugs up. “Yes sir.”  
Ringo starts walking again but backwards, facing Easy. “Oooh, that’s bedroom talk mr. Winter.”  
Easy rolls his eyes but laughs all the same, following his boyfriend to the park.  
“If you make me do jumping jacks in the park I will smack you.”  
“Again, bedroom talk Easy, behave yourself!”


	15. 164: “Stop teasing me so much…”

They’re having dinner with their friends, Paco and Ellie, Tobias and KayC are all sitting at table.  
Easy is sitting next to Ringo, feeling content to just eat and listen to his friends chatter away.  
Ringo’s got his arm around the back of Easy’s chair, and it feels nice and cozy and _warm_ in a way that they’re both getting used to.  
Tobias says something stupid and they laugh, Ringo hiding his grin behind Easy’s shoulder.

Easy has finished his plate when Ringo takes his arm off of Easy’s back. He’s about to frown when he feels that hand land on his leg.  
Easy looks to his side with a questionable look but Ringo just smiles at him.  
Thirty seconds go by and Ringo starts moving his hand in circles, softly rubbing up and down as he had done many times absentmindedly, but this feels deliberate.  
Ellie asks him something about an upcoming photography job and Easy actually finds it difficult to concentrate.

“Yeah they sent me a moodboard yesterday, to make sure I have a sense of what they want.” He tells them, and Ringo’s hand slips to the inside of his thigh.  
“I just hope I do okay, because I’ve done some stuff for them before and they were very hard to please.” He can hear Ringo chuckle at that and he does his best not to turn his head.

 

The comment about his photography job launches Tobias into a rant about a very difficult client he had to deal with and Easy is glad to have the attention away from himself for a moment.  
Easy leans into Ringo a little. “What are you doing.” He whispers.  
Ringo turns his body towards him, the angle allowing him to lean closer to Easy. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”  
His hand brushes over Easy’s crotch and Easy abruptly stands up, his chair shooting backwards.

Everyone gives him a bewildered look. “We’re going.” Easy announces firmly, grabbing Ringo’s hand and marching out of the apartment.  
He can hear Ringo throw a cheerful “Tschüss!” over his shoulder, and they’re barely in the hallway outside the apartment when Easy pushes Ringo’s shoulders against the wall and kisses him.

 

Ringo groans, folding his hands around Easy’s sides. Easy has one hand around Ringo’s jawline, and his heart is racing with how worked up he feels.  
Easy softly sinks his teeth into Ringo’s lower lip, whose mouth falls open and Easy takes the opportunity to slide his tongue into Ringo’s mouth.  
Easy feels lightheaded with how overwhelming this is and he suddenly pulls away, not wanting to give Ringo too much after the stunt he just pulled.

Easy breathes harshly. He touches Ringo’s bottom lip, red and shiny, with his thumb. “Stop teasing me so much.”  
Ringo grins at him, eyes playful but fond.   
“But it’s so fun.” Ringo bats his eyelashes at Easy, who snorts in response.

 

“I bet.” Easy leans in closer, brushing his lips against Ringo’s and Ringo looks dazed.  
“Maybe I should tease you back sometime.” Easy pulls back with a grin and starts walking toward the lift.  
Ringo huffs a laugh, leaning back against the wall for a moment before following his boyfriend, and he tries not to think too much about how much of a hold Easy has over him.


	16. 42: “I need a hug.”

Easy is sitting at the table, laptop in front of him, editing photos when his phone rings.  
He frowns when he reads the name on the screen, swiping to answer and holding the phone to his ear.  
“Paco? What’s up?”   
“It’s Ringo.”  
His stomach grows uneasy and he can’t keep the alarm out of his voice. “What? Is he hurt?”  
“No no, he’s fine,” Paco quickly says, “well sort of. Just come over, will you?”

He’s knocking on the door within a minute. Easy doesn’t wait for a response but enters straight away, looking around the room.  
“Where is he? What’s going on?”  
Paco wheels towards him, Ellie sitting on the kitchen counter and Bambi, Sina and KayC at the table.  
“He stormed in about an hour ago, went straight to his room and he hasn’t come out since.” Paco says.

Easy frowns, gnawing on his lip. “He had to go to the uni this morning, but we were supposed to hang out tonight.”  
“He looked a little distraught.” Ellie says, and Paco nods in agreement.  
Easy takes a deep breath. “Alright. Thanks guys.” He gives them a small smile and heads up the spiral staircase.

He knocks on Ringo’s door, listening for a moment but not hearing anything.  
“Ringo, it’s me.”  
He hears shuffling and then the door creaks open.  
“Hey.” Ringo croaks, eyes red rimmed. He steps aside to let Easy in, who walks towards Ringo’s bed whilst Ringo closes the door behind them.  
Easy sits down and waits, Ringo slowly walking toward him and sinking down next to him.

“Hi.” Ringo whispers after a moment, and Easy smiles. Easy takes Ringo’s hand and pull him towards himself, laying back against the headboard and letting Ringo’s head fall on his chest.

He starts running his fingers through Ringo’s hair, and he feels Ringo deeply exhale after a moment.

It’s comfortably quiet like this for a few minutes when Ringo speaks.  
“I think I fucked up my exam today.” Easy hums, encouraging Ringo to go on.  
He feels Ringo fidget a bit before he starts talking again.  
“I got a notification on my phone, so my screen lit up and it showed that picture of you and me, the one on my lockscreen.”   
Easy smiles a little, knowing what picture Ringo’s talking about.

 

They had wanted to spend some time together on a gorgeous spring afternoon, but Ringo had insisted he needed to study.  
“They’re books Ringo, just take them with you!” And that had been that.  
They went to the park together, finding a spot underneath a tree where Ringo could lean against, being able to read in the shade.  
Ringo had comfortably settled with the book in his hand when Easy had flopped down, laying his head on Ringo’s stomach and closing his eyes, his position allowing him to catch a few sunrays.  
Every now and then Easy would ask Ringo what he was reading about, or he’d suddenly remember something he’d wanted to tell Ringo, but other than that the only noises were Ringo flipping his pages and some other people in the park.

It was when he thought Easy had drifted off that Ringo had put his book to the side and grabbed his phone, his boyfriend looking too peaceful and cute not to take a picture.  
He’d had his phone in place, slightly above himself so that he could fit the both of them in the picture when he had placed his hand on Easy’s side, needing to lean somewhere.  
He dragged a finger along Easy’s side, who abruptly woke from his slumber and laughed because it tickled, and Ringo had immediately snapped a picture.  
Easy with a big grin on his face, eyes still a little hazy and cheeks rosy from his nap in the sun, and Ringo’s eyes were clearly fondly staring at Easy on the screen.

 

Easy loves that picture. Loves the fact that Ringo isn’t afraid to be a little more sentimental these days, loves that he notices Ringo’s smile sometimes when he turns on his phone and is greeted by that snapshot of happiness.  
“My classmate next to me saw it.” Ringo says, and Easy hears a tremble in his voice.  
“Turns out homophobes really are everywhere.” Ringo huffs a humourless laugh and Easy squeezes his eyes shut, wishing they didn’t have to deal with this.  
“I’m so sorry.”  
“He called me a few names, but when he looked me in the eyes he really looked disgusted.” Ringo moves up to sit. “Then we had to put our phones away and the exam started.”

His gaze turns a little distant. “I could feel him staring at me, and I was caught off guard. I couldn’t concentrate anymore.”  
Easy feels his heart squeeze at Ringo’s words. He doesn’t really know what to do, doesn’t know how to make it better and he knows he can’t take this away, no matter how much he wants to.

But they’d been trying harder to communicate lately.

“What can I do.” Easy says, placing his hand on Ringo’s arm.  
Ringo looks like he thinks for a moment, and then he looks back at Easy.  
“I need a hug.”  
Easy gives him a smile, proud of the both of them for actively working to understand each other’s needs better.  
“Okay baby.” Easy lays back down, completely horizontally, and Ringo moves so he’s laying on top of Easy, the side of his head on Easy’s chest, their legs tangled together.  
Easy holds him, arms all the way around Ringo’s back, stroking up and down every now and then.

Easy feels perfectly content, laying there the way they are and he feels not for the first time that Ringo really does trust him.  
“Easy.”  
“Hmm.”  
“I love you.”  
Easy presses a kiss to the top of Ringo’s head. “I love you too.”


	17. 30: “So that’s it? It’s over?”

“So that’s it? It’s over?”  
Ringo can’t even look him in the eye and Easy knows why.   
Easy walks up and down the apartment, hand tugging at his hair.  
“So let me get this straight: you do something incredibly shitty, I get really angry at you and we break up, we spend weeks being sad and heartbroken and then when I tell you I love you and I want to be with you, you reject me?”  
Easy can feel himself getting angrier and he doesn’t want to be but he just _doesn’t understand_.

Ringo looks like he doesn’t know what to do with himself and Easy can’t stand to see him so torn.  
Slowly Easy walks to one of the chairs and sinks down. He waits for Ringo to do the same.

“Please just… tell me.” Easy breathes. “Why don’t you want me.”  
Ringo’s face screws up in discomfort and he opens his mouth to speak but closes it again.  
“I do want you.” He quietly admits, and Easy feels something break open in his chest.  
“But I…” Ringo trails off, unable to finish his sentence.

They both stay quiet for a bit, Ringo seeming stuck in his internal struggle.  
And then a thought hits Easy.  
“Is there… something else?” Ringo looks up, brows drawn together in confusion.  
Easy carries on. “Is there something else you did that you didn’t tell me?”

 

Ringo thinks for a second and then Easy sees something cold settle over him.  
“That’s it. That’s exactly it.” Ringo says.  
Easy shuffles in his seat for a moment, preparing himself for whatever’s next. “Okay, well just tell me and we’ll-”  
“No!” Ringo bursts. “Do you honestly think I could’ve gone through all this the past couple weeks if I hadn’t told you the whole truth?”

Easy stays still.  
“There isn’t anything else! I told you every fucking horrible thing I did but the fact that you still think there could be more says it all, doesn’t it?” Ringo spits.  
He sounds bitter, and Easy knows Ringo will never stop being angry at himself.  
“We shouldn’t be together. We shouldn’t move past this, because we are always going to end up back here.” Ringo says, and all of the vulnerability he had shown Easy the past week seems gone.

“Do you honestly think you can change me?” Something in Ringo’s tone snarls and it makes Easy’s stomach turn.  
“That’s a bit naive, isn’t it.”  
“I know what you’re doing, and it’s not working.” Easy bites back.

 

“Oh really? Tell me, if you think you know everything, what am I doing?” Ringo says, jaw clenched.  
“You’re pushing me away and shutting me out because you think it’ll make me walk away.”  
“I’m not some problem for you to fix Easy, I’m just an asshole.” Ringo barks.

Easy jumps to his feet. “Sometimes yes! But you’re also a coward!” Ringo wants to disagree with that but can’t.  
“Because you would rather wallow in self-pity over your mistakes than actually try to be better!” Easy shouts, tears in his eyes.  
Ringo now stands as well, cheeks red in frustration and anger.  
“You wouldn’t be saying that in three weeks when I’ve made my next mistake.”  
“I know what I’m letting myself in for.” Easy steps closer to Ringo. “But this has to come from both ways. If you’re not even willing to try to be better, I’m out.”

He holds the side of Ringo’s face and grazes a kiss on his cheek. When he pulls back he sees the swirl of emotion he feels on Ringo’s face.  
Easy can’t look at Ringo without feeling a fierce protectiveness over him, knowing that even though he makes mistakes he wants to be with this boy, to fight his battles with him.

 

He looks Ringo in the eyes. “I just want to be in your corner.” With that, he leaves Ringo to his thoughts.  
Once he’s in the hallway, he wishes for Ringo to come back to him. Soon.


	18. 67: “Stop being so cute.”

Days like these are the ones Easy likes best.

When he can hang around the kiosk all day, occasionally grabbing a coffee or a hotdog for someone but the stream of customers slow enough to be able to relax.   
He’s hanging over the counter, staring into the distance with his eyes unfocused, when someone places their hands on his waist and pulls him backwards.  
“Hey.” Ringo whispers in his ear, and Easy immediately relaxes.

He turns around with a grin. “Hey back.” He reaches up to his tiptoes to kiss Ringo properly, hands clasped around the back of Ringo’s neck.  
“What are you doing here, I thought you had school stuff?” Easy asks, head tilted slightly.  
“I did, but then I already did some of it and then I missed you, so I wanted to come hang out with you.” Ringo says with a soft smile.  
“Well I do have to work you know.” Ringo rolls his eyes. “Oh yeah, I can see it’s overflowing with customers today.”

Easy goes to stand behind the counter again, and Ringo takes a seat on a stool behind him.  
“Do you wanna do something tonight?” Ringo asks.  
Easy turns around to face him. “Sure, but I have to shoot with a client in the morning, so I can’t stay out late.”  
“Ahh, you’re no fun. Hey, maybe we can…” Ringo trails off, distracted by something happening behind Easy.  
“Ringo?”

Then they both hear crying.  
“Oh shit.” Ringo says, looking concerned now, and he immediately walks out of the kiosk onto the street.  
Easy turns to see that Lotta is laying on the pavement, clutching a bloody knee.  
Easy also walks out, and when he gets to her, Ringo is already crouched down next to her, one arm around her and speaking to her in a low voice.  
“Hey it’s okay, it hurts now but it won’t soon.”  
Ringo looks up to Easy. “Have you got any bandaids?”

“Oh yeah, of course.” Easy heads into the kiosk to grab his first-aid kit, and he’s just found it when Ringo walks in, carrying Lotta with one arm under her torso and one under legs.  
Easy wants to melt, but he tells himself to focus.  
Ringo gently sets Lotta down onto the stool he was sitting on himself a moment ago.

Lotta has stopped crying now, but she still seems a little shaken.  
“I’m just going to check if it’s all clean, okay?” Ringo says in the softest voice Easy has ever heard, and when a customer approaches him for a coffee he curses internally.

He makes the fastest cappuccino of his life and then turns back around.  
“Everything okay?” Easy asks, looking at Ringo who’s crouched down, slightly turning Lotta’s knee with his hand.  
“Yeah, it is a little deeper than I thought but there’s no dirt in there so I think it’s alright.”  
Ringo grabs a ball of cotton from the box and coats it with antiseptic.  
“This is going to sting a little, but you can squeeze me if it hurts.” Ringo puts Lotta’s hand on his shoulder and looks at her with a smile. “That way we’ll both be in pain, okay?”

Lotta looks like she trusts him, and nods. When the cool liquid touches her skin for the first time she breathes in sharply, but she braves it out after that.  
After putting on a bandaid, Ringo comes back up and helps Lotta down from her stool. “There. Better?”  
Lotta nods, a lot more calm now than before.   
“I think, if we ask very nicely, Easy might be able to help you with any residual pain.” Ringo grins, looking at Easy.

Easy frowns for a moment, but then Ringo gives a quick nod towards the candy and he gets the hint.  
“Ah yes, of course! I’ll make you a selection of your favourites.” Easy smiles, and throws something from every box into a little bag.  
Rufus approaches the kiosk whilst Easy ties up the bag, and Ringo grabs Lotta’s hand to walk outside.

“What happened?” Rufus asks, parental concern evident in his voice and face.  
“She fell.” Ringo explains. “But you’re all better now, right?” He says with a smile, looking down at the little girl.  
Lotta nods, walking over to Rufus. She’s quiet for a moment, and then says: “Where’s my candy?”

Ringo snorts just as Easy’s walking out, candy in hand. “Right here!” Rufus makes Lotta thank them both, and then he thanks them himself as well before walking away.  
They both walk back to the kiosk, Easy tugging on Ringo’s hand. Once they’re back inside, Ringo leans back against the wall, Easy stepping in between his legs.

“Well that was something.”  
Ringo pulls up one eyebrow. “What was?”  
“You, being nice to a child.” Easy shrugs.  
“Oh, are we getting broody?” Ringo teases.   
“No.” Easy rolls his eyes, leaning forward to capture Ringo’s lips in a deep kiss.  
“Just stop being so cute.”  
“Never.” Ringo whispers, keeping his eyes on Easy’s lips. “I have to compensate somehow.”


	19. "Kira visits Köln and notices how Ringo has become happier and softer."

He doesn’t notice it at first. The way you’ll sometimes look at something and realise it’s new, even though it feels like it’s always been there. Because it feels right, like it’s always had its place.

Ringo is standing behind the counter in the gym, looking at the schedule for the upcoming week, when the door opens. He hears the sound but doesn’t look up.  
“Hey.” When he raises his head, Easy is standing in front of him with a big grin.   
Ringo doesn’t know anyone who smiles as freely as Easy does. There’s few things more irresistable than when Easy full on smiles, teeth on display and dimples popping out.  
It makes Ringo feel as if there’s nothing wrong in the world.

“Hey.” It comes out a little breathy, and soft. He sees that Easy notices, but he leans forward nonetheless, planting a kiss on Easy’s lips that lasts a little longer than normal.  
“Are you nearly done here?” Easy asks.  
Ringo checks his watch. “Yeah, in about ten minutes.” Easy smiles at him.  
“I think I could squeeze in a workout before we go out though.” Easy’s smile falters at that.  
“Yeah, sure.”   
Ringo walks around the counter and steps in front of Easy, lifting his chin with his finger and firmly placing his lips on Easy’s, slightly sucking on his bottom one.  
He pulls back but stays close. “A different kind of workout.” He whispers, enjoying the way Easy stares back at him as if he could spend the rest of eternity doing just that.

They both grin at each other and Gianni walks past them, rolling his eyes and squeezing Ringo’s shoulder. “Just go already.”  
Ringo nods at him as a way of saying thanks, and they start making their way outside.

They take the elevator up to Easy’s apartment, because Ringo is still in his work clothes and even though neither of them have said anything about moving in together, Ringo has some of his clothes at Easy’s place and Easy washes them and puts them back in a pile in one of his drawers.

They’re waiting to go up, and Easy lifts one of Ringo’s arm and moves next to him, letting Ringo’s arm fall around his shoulders.   
It feels natural, Ringo doesn’t even think about it as he presses a kiss to the top of Easy’s head.

They walk to Easy’s front door like that. “Is Tobias home?” Easy shakes his head no.  
Ringo walks in a straight line to Easy’s bedroom and lets himself collapse on the bed with a dramatic sigh, hearing his boyfriend laugh from behind him.  
“You can laugh but I had a very tiring day, I’ll have you know.”  
The bed dips as Easy sits next to him on his knees, flipping Ringo over until he’s on his back and moving over him so Easy’s sitting on Ringo’s waist.  
“Not too tiring I hope.”

Ringo grins from where he’s laying. “I might let you do all the work you know.”  
Easy smiles softly. “I don’t mind.” He leans over Ringo, hands at either side of his head, and places a kiss on Ringo’s forehead, Ringo’s eyes fluttering shut.  
“It’s okay to be taken care of.” He hears Easy whisper, and then Easy’s tugging at his shirt.

Ringo raises his arms up, letting Easy drag the shirt over his head. He lets his head fall back onto the pillow, eyes closed.  
The air is cool on his bare chest but Easy kisses him on the lips before moving down, gliding his mouth over every hook and curve of his chest and stomach.  
Two large warm hands hold Ringo’s torso, and Ringo revels in the intimacy of Easy’s affections, feels like he’s floating with how Easy is perfectly content taking his time.

Easy moves to the side of Ringo’s stomach for a moment and he can feel the muscles pull there.   
“If I gave you a hickey here, you could at least hide it.” Easy murmurs lowly, and Ringo chuckles.  
Easy waits, but Ringo doesn’t protest. Easy stays quiet long enough that Ringo’s eyes open again.  
“You would actually let me do that, wouldn’t you.” Easy says, eyes soft.  
Ringo sits up, hands on Easy’s thighs, and brushes his lips over Easy’s.   
“I would let you do anything.”

The softness and delicacy of their moment is interrupted by a knock on the door.   
“I don’t want to, but I should get that.” Easy admits, and he gets up with a sigh.   
Ringo sits back a little, waiting for Easy to come back when he hears: “Ringo!”  
Ringo grabs his T-Shirt and walks to the door. “Kira?” Ringo’s eyes widen, and he smiles broadly before enveloping his sister in a big hug.  
“What are you doing here?” He says, moving to the side to let her enter the apartment, quickly pulling his shirt back over his head.

“I had to be back in Köln for a few appointments and I didn’t want to leave without having seen you.” Kira says, face friendly but her eyes flitting between her brother and Easy.  
“Coffee?” Easy offers, and after Kira’s nod he sets about making some.  
“So how have you been?” Ringo asks, sitting down on the couch, his sister next to him.

Kira starts telling him about her job and her life abroad, and Ringo looks at her, seeing how she grew from his little sister to a grown woman.   
He sees how her independency has let her grow and flourish, and his heart bursts for her, especially knowing how much they both miss their parents.

“And how have you been.” Kira says with a sharp grin just as Easy’s sets their mugs of coffee on the table. “The both of you.” Kira adds.  
Easy spins one of the dinner table chairs around and sits down, meeting Ringo’s questioning look with a nod.   
“Well. Easy and I have been together for nearly 5 months now.” Ringo says, and the embarrasment he expects to hit him at those words doesn’t come.  
Kira’s mouth twists into a pleased smile and she congratulates them both.

 

“So then how are you holding up.” Kira says as she turns towards Easy, who laughs.  
“I’m suprisingly good actually.” He jokes. “It’s been the best 5 months of my life, and I feel really lucky.” Easy says softly, and he can almost _see_ Ringo melt, and Kira sees it too.  
“Well that does sound positive.” Kira says, and there’s a fondness in her face as she looks at Ringo.

“I’m just going to go get some groceries for dinner tonight.” Easy says after a few moments, feeling like it would be best to give Ringo and Kira some time alone.  
“Feel free to stay for dinner if you want.” He tells Kira with a smile. He stands up and pats his pants, checking if his wallet and keys are there.  
He grabs his coat and walks towards Ringo. “Need anything?” Ringo shakes his head.  
“M'kay. Bye.” Easy leans down and kisses Ringo. “See you later.” Ringo calls out as Easy closes the door behind him.

When Ringo turns to Kira she’s smirking at him. “What?” He says with a laugh, taking a sip of his coffee.  
“You could not be more smitten.” Kira says, and Ringo does not have it in him to go against it and lie.  
“I really am.”   
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this soft.” Kira says, and for a moment she looks like she’s remembering the ghost of a brother who did _not_ want to like boys.  
“I still fuck up plenty, don’t worry.” Ringo reassures her with a smile. They stay quiet for a moment.  
“But now, I have never wanted to try harder to be better.”


	20. 70: “This is why I fell in love with you.”

There’s people all around them, pushing past to board the train.  
Easy is still close to Ringo, and it’s way too much and not nearly enough.  
After Easy’s confession, everything is raw and open. Ringo feels like every nerve ending is exposed, the smallest sound or movement hitting him full force.

“We should move.” Easy whispers, and he reaches down to take Ringo’s hand. They slowly start making their way down the stairs, as if they’re discovering how to do this together _all over again_.  
They eventually stand outside, and Easy tugs on Ringo’s hand, moving them to a bench and sinking down.

Ringo feels disoriented as he stares at his fully packed suitcase. He can’t believe he was ready to leave all of this behind twenty minutes ago, and now he’s here and wouldn’t want to go back.

“I got your letter.” Easy says, and Ringo turns his head to look at him. He can feel warmth in his cheeks, but he wills himself not to feel embarassed.  
“I meant every word.” “I know.” Easy immediately responds. One corner of Ringo’s mouth tugs up.  
“You had nothing to gain from pouring your heart out in a very,” Easy pauses as he grins at Ringo with raised eyebrows, “dramatic letter.” Ringo chuckles quietly.

They stay silent for a while, and Ringo can feel everything in him _itch_ to pull Easy close, but he does not want to overstep any boundaries.  
“I realised something.” Easy starts.   
“I can’t want just the good parts of you.” Ringo purses his lips and looks down at his lap, and Easy shifts so he’s sitting sideways, directly facing Ringo.

“You are who you are. You said that to me once. And it’s true.” There’s a cool wind, people all around them constantly moving one way or the other.   
“Every single part of you makes you who you are. And I love all of them.” Ringo can’t help but huff at that. “I do!” Easy says firmly.  
A hesitant hand lands on Ringo’s shoulder, rubbing circles until Ringo moves to face Easy.   
“I kind of like it when you’re grumpy. Or when you get upset about things, mostly because you care quite a lot.” Ringo smiles at that. Easy really does know him.

“I like that way you can sometimes look annoyed at everything, but then you see me and you get all soft around the eyes.” Easy says, smiling fondly.  
“Or when you talk to me in that softer, quieter voice as if that will make everyone around us dissapear.”  
Ringo smiles bashfully at that. He really has softened quite a bit, hasn’t he.

“I have to take the bad with the good. Taking any part out would mean losing who you are.” Easy says.  
“Loving someone means learning to compromise and better yourself.” Ringo says, his face more serious now.  
“Oh believe me, I’m not saying you don’t have to do better. You do.” Easy half jokes. Ringo looks off in the distance, absentmindedly nodding.

“I’m just saying,” Easy takes a breath. “I love you.” Ringo sees nothing but sincerity in Easy’s eyes, and it feels like breathing for the first time in weeks.  
“I love all of you.” Easy says, leaning forward a little.   
Easy puts his hand on the side of Ringo’s face and presses a kiss to his cheek, Ringo’s eyes falling shut. There is something so healing about Easy’s touch, and Ringo has missed it.

Easy stays close, nose nearly nudging Ringo’s. “I love that you made me realise there’s a part of me that wants to be better.” Ringo says, voice thick with emotion.  
“I didn’t think I still had that. But you pulled it out of me.” Ringo admits, staring at Easy like he’s something magical. He is.

A few moments go by like that. “This is why I fell in love with you.” Ringo says quietly.  
Easy pulls back a little and looks at him with surprise.   
“Because you had already seen some pretty ugly parts of me, and you loved me nonetheless.” Ringo clarifies. “You’ve defended me when I didn’t really deserve it, but you were convinced I had my heart in the right place.”  
Easy full blown grins at that, and _damn_ Ringo has missed those twinkly eyes.  
“The funny thing,” Ringo says, adoration clear in his gaze as he looks at Easy, “is that when I loved you, _that’s_ when I knew I had my heart in the right place.”

“If I can get Ringo Beckmann to get poetic then it really must be love.” Easy grins, and Ringo laughs wholeheartedly.   
“You just wait until you wake up tomorrow and I’m sitting next to you with a guitar to serenade you.” Easy laughs, and then he presses his lips together, a small smile peeking through.  
“We’re waking up tomorrow together, are we?” Ringo freezes, realising what he just implied.  
“Oh I didn’t, I wasn’t-”

Easy places a hand on Ringo’s arm. “Hey, it’s okay. Calm down.” There’s still a slight nervousness about Ringo, and Easy desperately wants to take it away.  
“I just want to be home with you.” Easy says softly.  
Ringo smiles, the ache in his gut starting to dissolve.  
“Then we’ll take it from there.”


	21. 46: “Can I kiss you right now?”

Ringo’s been fidgeting. Ever since they got back together, Ringo’s been nervous and jumpy around their friends in a very much non typical Ringo way.   
And Easy sees it. He’s been trying to give Ringo the reassurance he needs, that he chose Ringo and won’t back down from his decision.  
To be honest, Easy just wants his friends to respect his decision, and to stop treating him like a child.  
To say it’s taken the gloss of their fresh start might be a bit far, but they could definitely use a break.

Which is why Easy is awake and dressed at 8 AM on a Saturday. He first leaves the apartment and a sleeping Tobias behind to go get some breakfast, which he then carefully puts in his car.  
He walks up the stairs to Ringo’s place, phone in hand. As he reaches the door, he hesitates.   
He could call Ringo and tell him to get dressed, but actually going in and getting him might be more effective.  
And so, he stuffs his phone back in his pocket and grabs his spare key to open the door. The living room is empty thankfully, and Easy slowly toes up the spiral staircase.

The door to Ringo’s room creaks open, and Easy gets in as fast as he can.  
Ringo is still asleep, and Easy takes a moment to look at his boyfriend, face completely relaxed and more childlike than usual.  
Slowly, Easy sinks down to sit on the side of Ringo’s bed, first stroking his cheek and then brushing Ringo’s hair back from his face.  
Ringo’s eyelids stir. “Hey.” Easy whispers with a smile.  
Ringo startles for a moment before relaxing again. “Hey.” Ringo croaks, stretching his limbs.  
Then he frowns. “What are you doing here? Am I late for something?” Easy grins.

“You didn’t forget anything, but I thought we could go on a little day trip, just the two of us.” Ringo gives him an amused smile.  
“And why is that?”  
“Because I’m tired of our friends being in our faces all the time.” Easy grumbles. Ringo tenses.  
“But also because it’s Saturday and I wanna spend time with you and I love you.” Ringo softens at that.  
“So, go shower and get dressed as quick as you can. I’ll be downstairs with breakfast.” Easy kisses Ringo’s forehead and then quickly makes his way outside again.

***

It’s once Ringo has finished his coffee and his croissant that he breaks.  
“So are you actually going to tell me what we’re going to do, or?” Easy grins but doesn’t take his eyes off the road.  
“We’ve been here before, you know.”  
“Where?” Ringo starts looking out of the window to find out where they are.  
“No I mean, this moment has happened before.” Easy says. Ringo thinks.  
“Our first date?” Easy prompts. “Ooooh, right!” Ringo says as it clicks.

Easy stays quiet with a smile playing around his lips, and Ringo catches on.  
“Does that mean you were actually sentimental enough to take us to go minigolfing?” Ringo says.  
Easy shrugs. “Maybe.” He turns the music up a little and Ringo grins.

“Okay, you wait here, I’ll go get the clubs.” Easy pats Ringo’s chest and then wanders off. Ringo leans against the closest wall, not wanting to walk around because of how dark it is inside.  
A few moments later Easy is standing in front of him, holding two golf clubs in one hand and a few small tubes of fluorescent paint in the other and a misschievous grin on his face.

Ringo stares at the tubes and then looks at Easy.  
“No.”

“Oh come on, the blacklight isn’t here to not be taken advantage of!” Easy says with the grin of a man who knows he’ll be able to convince his boyfriend.  
“I showered like an hour and a half ago.” Ringo _actually_ looks a little annoyed at the idea of getting dirty and Easy could not love him more.  
“Who says getting dirty has to be a bad thing.” Easy says casually, putting a little of the orange color on his finger and then coating his mouth in it.

Ringo’s eyes widen. “Wha-” Easy leans up and presses a kiss to both of Ringo’s cheeks, and then to his mouth, a glowing kiss now on either side of his face and on his lips.  
Ringo rolls his eyes but smiles nonetheless. “Alright.” He grabs the tube of blue from Easy’s hand and puts some on his finger.

He holds the side of Easy’s face as he paints a little sun on Easy’s cheek, tongue poking out as he’s intently focused.  
Easy smiles at Ringo from the corner of his eye, finding the way Ringo gently paints his face endearing.  
Ringo steps back and admires his work. “Yes? Pretty?” Easy asks.  
Ringo nods. “Very.” He quickly pecks Easy’s lips and then grabs his hand. “Let’s do this, mr. “I’m King At Minigolf.”“

***

So maybe Easy wins by two points, after a tense game where they kept the scores close to one another.  
But it doesn’t seem to matter because they’re now sitting in a cafe, an hour away from home, bits of paint still on their faces and everything feels warm and fuzzy.  
They’re not drinking alcohol - Easy’s driving and Ringo doesn’t want to drink beer when Easy can’t - but they both have flushed faces, limbs feeling loose and relaxed.

They’re sitting in a corner that’s a little more tucked away, across from one another with a single candle in between them.  
Easy doesn’t say it out loud, but he actually feels like he can breathe a little more now that they’re somewhere where they don’t know anybody.  
“This was really nice.” Ringo says, and his eyes flicker to Easy’s face.

It’s been so nice to see Ringo laugh so freely, not worried about anything.   
Easy nods at Ringo. “I had fun.” Ringo hums in agreement.  
Easy looks at Ringo, eyes moving all over the place. Ringo’s fiddling with the cardboard coaster, long thin fingers flipping it over and over in his hand.

Easy has always found Ringo attractive, even back when he didn’t want to admit it.   
Ringo’s face looks like it’s been sculpted very carefully, strong eyebrows, high cheekbones and a sharp nose and jawline.  
Easy loves the dip of Ringo’s cupid’s bow, how he sometimes pouts a little when he doesn’t mean to.

Ringo feels Easy’s eyes on him and looks up. “What?”   
Easy’s eyes flicker from Ringo’s eyes to his lips and back to his eyes.  
“Can I kiss you right now?”

Ringo leans forward, leaning his forearms on the table, until his face is close enough that he can graze Easy’s lips with his own.  
“Not if I kiss you first.” He whispers, keeping his eyes on Easy’s mouth.  
Easy grins, and Ringo swallows it down, eyes falling closed.

Easy loves that Ringo kisses like he does pretty much everything. The same fierceness, snark and a hint of cockyness.  
He can feel Ringo sucking on his bottom lip before releasing it. He stays close, breath puffing against Easy’s mouth.  
“I love you.” Ringo whispers, before leaning in again and smacking a quick kiss against Easy’s lips.  
Easy smiles, dimples forming. “I love you too.”


	22. 62: “I want to protect you.”

It’s just the two of them. It has been the two of them a lot for the past few weeks, and Easy would not want to have it any other way.

There is something so inherently pleasant about spending time with Ringo, the specific activity not even all that relevant.

Easy is sitting on the couch, one arm around Ringo’s torso, who is sitting sideways, his back leaning against Easy’s side.  
There’s a few lights on but nothing too bright, and everything feels kind of warm and hazy and languid.  
Easy’s laptop is in front of them on the coffeetable, a generic Spotify playlist on low volume providing background noise.

Easy is on his phone when he feels Ringo grab his hand which is resting on Ringo’s stomach. He looks to the side and sees Ringo holding Easy’s hand palm up, tracing the lines with his finger.  
He dips over Easy’s knuckles and then threads his own fingers through Easy’s, twisting Easy’s hand towards him and pressing a kiss to the back of it.  
Their joined hands come down and rest comfortably on Ringo’s abdomen.

Sometimes Easy wishes he could show this Ringo to his friends.  
To Tobias, who suddenly had plans when Easy told him firmly that Ringo was coming over tonight whether he liked it or not.  
To Bambi, who still looked uncomfortable anytime Easy walked into a room with Ringo behind him.

Then again, this Ringo is _his_ Ringo. The one so affectionate Easy wants to keep him all for himself.  
The one who will lay in bed with him at night, face buried in Easy’s neck and arm slung over his stomach.   
The one whose entire mood and demeanor and voice can change when he sees Easy.

“Easy?”  
Easy squeezes Ringo’s hand. “Hmm.”  
“I love you.”  
Easy smiles even though Ringo can’t see it.  
“I love you too.”  
Ringo slides down a little further, throws his head back so he can look up at Easy from his lap.  
Easy bends down a little and kisses Ringo’s lips, and then the tip of his nose.

He already has his phone in his hand again when Ringo speaks.  
“Do you think they’re ever gonna be okay with this?”  
Easy frowns. “With what? And who?”  
Ringo is staring up at the ceiling, hands folded together on his stomach.  
“Our-”, he pauses for a moment and then corrects himself, “ _your_ friends. About us being back together.”

Easy feels his chest tighten at the thought that Ringo thinks he has no friends.  
He throws his phone to the side, landing on the cushion next to him with a soft thud.  
He presses his lips together for a moment, eyes focused on the fridge in front of him as he thinks.  
“I don’t know.” He answers honestly.  
“But they’re gonna have to at some point.”

Ringo rolls his eyes. “I’m not gonna let you lose all your friends because of me, Easy.”  
“What kind of friends are they if they can’t accept me being with the man I love?” Easy asks.  
Ringo’s eyes find his at that.

“I just wish they were a little more subtle with their critiques.” Easy mumbles.  
Ringo smiles sadly. “Yeah, that must be tough to hear.”  
Easy abruptly looks down at Ringo. “Yes, for _you_.”  
Ringo’s eyebrows crease together for a moment. “What?”  
“I see how you deflate when someone sees us together laughing and they throw you a look.” Easy can’t keep the bitterness out of his voice.  
He knows firsthand what it means to have reservations about Ringo Beckmann, but they _have_ to give him a fighting chance.

“Does that annoy you about me?” Ringo asks quietly.  
Easy softens. Turns out, when Ringo tries to be more vulnerable, he really gives all he can.  
“No of course not. I just,” Easy sighs, “I want to protect you.”  
Ringo bites his lip.   
“I see everyday how you’re better than before, and my days instantly become better when I see you, and you make me laugh so much,” the words come tumbling out as Easy feels his chest bubble with happiness.

“You are my favorite person in a lot of ways and I just want you to have the opportunity to show people how great you can be.” Easy says with a soft smile.  
Ringo smiles back up at him. He leans up for a moment and kisses Easy.

“You believe in me. That’s enough.”


	23. 180: “You have no idea what you do to me.”

It has been a long day. Easy’s career still isn’t back to where he wants it, and thus he gets stuck with jobs that don’t really interest him all that much.  
So he gets home, much later than he wanted to and he hasn’t had dinner yet. He opens the front door and sees Ringo sitting at the dinner table working on his laptop.

They haven’t had any kind of ‘moving in’ conversation yet but Ringo spends a lot of time in Easy’s apartment, and there’s something instantly settling about Ringo being there when Easy gets home.  
Ringo makes it feel _more like home_.

“Hey.” He sounds tired, Easy can hear it in his own voice.  
Ringo looks up from his laptop. “Hey.” He smiles softly, and when Easy just stands there, completely exhausted, he gets up.  
He pulls the bag off of Easy’s shoulder and over his head and drops a kiss on his cheek.  
“Tough day?” Ringo pulls the zipper on Easy’s coat down and shrugs it off his shoulders.  
“Boring day.” Easy answers, wanting to do nothing more than sleep.

Ringo stands before Easy, holding him around his waist. “I’m glad you’re home.”  
Easy smiles tiredly, and Ringo slowly kisses his lips.  
“Why don’t you go take a shower, I’ll get your dinner ready.” Ringo says.  
Easy nods, and Ringo presses a final kiss to the top of his head before letting him go.

Ten minutes later Easy is clean and dry, standing in his room.   
He pulls on a pair of sweatpants and looks around for a shirt but can’t find any.  
Then he sees a white T-Shirt, hanging over the back of a chair, and a grey zip-up hoodie that is right next to it.  
He quickly throws it on and walks into the kitchen.  
“Oh that smells amazing.” Easy comments, brushing past Ringo to grab a glass from a cabinet.

Easy’s filling the glass with water when he feels Ringo’s arms coming around him from behind.  
“Careful!” He laughs, putting the now full glass aside and leaning backwards a little.  
Ringo leans down to kiss Easy’s cheek, and then moves down to his jaw, coming down to his neck.  
Easy’s eyes fall shut, Ringo’s affections enveloping him like a heavy blanket.

Easy turns around to face Ringo. Ringo’s eyes stare him up and down and Easy is starting to squirm a little under his gaze.  
“What?” He asks, a slight flush to his cheeks.  
Ringo tugs Easy forward and folds himself around him, arms around Easy’s shoulders.  
“You have no idea what you do to me.” He whispers in Easy’s ear, his breath tickling down Easy’s spine.  
Easy arches into it, loving the feeling of Ringo’s fingers bunching up the white shirt, fingertips skating over Easy’s ribcage.

“As much as I want to finish this, I am hungry and tired. So if you get me worked up now, I’m only gonna be grumpy later.” Easy says, voice breathy.  
Ringo groans, hiding his face in Easy’s neck.   
Easy laughs a little, carding a hand through Ringo’s hair.  
“I made spaghetti.” Ringo mumbles, voice muffled against the fabric of Easy’s shirt.  
Easy grabs Ringo’s face and kisses him. “Then let’s eat.”


	24. "At movie night their friends notice how domestic Ringo and Easy have become."

“I really don’t understand the point of this.” Tobias grumbles, sitting down on the couch next to Paco and Ellie.  
Ringo feels the urge to make a snarky comment about how at least 60% of the reason they’re doing this is because they don’t want Tobias to sit in his room cooped up, crying over KayC.  
Which was why Paco had suggested they have a movie night, with Paco, Ellie, Bambi, Sine, Ringo, Easy, Tobias and Saskia.

Saskia walks over from the kitchen, holding glasses in her hands and putting them down on the table.  
“Because we’re your friends and we want to hang out with you.” She smiles at Tobias, and he softens slightly.  
Bambi and Sine are also seated, and Paco and Ellie are preparing food in the kitchen.  
Ringo pulls his phone out of his pocket for the fifth time in two minutes.  
Easy had told him he would be a bit later, but he was starting to get a little worried now.

He’s about to send him another text when the door opens.  
“Hey guys! I brought beer.” Easy walks in with a relaxed grin and a crate of beer in his hands.  
Ringo can’t help but smile, and he wants to get up and kiss his boyfriend hello, but all of a sudden he’s very much aware of the presence of their friends.

He fidgets in his seat, suddenly also self conscious about how they’re sitting. He wants to sit next to Easy but he doesn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable, and he most _definitely_ does not want to create a situation that will incite teasing comments from his friends.

But apparently it’s not all that complicated, because once Easy has put down the beer and taken off his coat, he walks over to Ringo and kisses him briefly.  
“Hey you.” Easy’s face stays close for a moment, and he has that fond, hazy look on his face that Ringo knows he also has anytime he sees Easy.  
“Hey.” Ringo whispers back, and he wonders if this feeling of excitement at seeing his boyfriend again after a day apart will ever fade.  
Paco and Ellie walk over to the coffee table and put the food down.  
Ellie looks around the room. “Ohh, I don’t know if we have enough room.” She tilts her head, and Easy looks around as well to count how many seats there are.

Ringo looks up at Easy from his spot on the couch. Maybe Easy can feel him looking, because he looks back a second later.  
He smiles. “It’s alright, I’ll sit here.” Easy grabs a pillow next to Ringo, and pulls Ringo’s knees apart. He places the pillow in between Ringo’s feet and then sits down on it, leaning back against Ringo’s legs.

From the corner of his eye, Ringo sees Ellie pursing her lips together to smother a smile, and he feels his cheeks heat a little.  
Easy wiggles around a little in front of him. “Are you comfortable?” Ringo asks.  
Easy looks back at him. “Yeah, you?” Ringo nods, and Easy smiles at him.

They end up watching some generic, overly American action movie, and Ringo isn’t all that interested but he can feel Easy chuckle at the one-liners and the startle once the bad guys kick in the doors with giant guns in their hands.  
It’s about halfway through the movie when Tobias starts complaining his bladder is about to burst, and so the movie gets paused and Tobias heads to the bathroom.  
Paco looks around the room. “Drinks?” He heads to the kitchen with Ellie.

Easy has his phone in his hand and he’s looking through his calender, which Ringo can see from behind him.  
He leans forward a little, arms falling over Easy’s shoulders. “You have a job tomorow night?”  
Easy winces and turns his head to look at Ringo. “Yes,” Ringo’s face falls at that, “and I know tomorrow is date night but I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

Tobias walks back in at that moment. “Hold on, you actually have a date night?”  
“That’s adorable!” Ellie yells from the kitchen, and Ringo rolls his eyes.  
“Yes we do. And no, you’re not invited.” Easy grins at Tobias.

Ringo puts his hands on Easy’s shoulders and pulls him towards his knees, Easy’s head falling back onto his legs.  
“What if I had an amazing night planned?”  
Easy smiles up at him, eyes sparkling. “I know for a fact that you haven’t, but I could take you out the day after tomorrow.”  
He tilts his head up slightly, and Ringo meets him halfway, slotting their lips together for a moment.

Ringo wishes they were alone right now, even more so when he feels himself linger, wanting to keep Easy there forever.  
He can hear Paco and Bambi whistling and he wants to feel embarrassed, but when he pulls away Easy just grins up at him, completely relaxed and unashamed in his adoration.

They both lean back again, their friends settling into their seats to resume the movie.  
Easy twists around. “Oh, are you going to the shops tomorrow?”  
“Yes, because you keep using my shampoo and now I’m almost out,” Ringo half smiles, “Why?”  
“Could you pick up some groceries for me? I’ll leave you a list.”  
Ringo hums. “Yeah, sure.” Easy smiles at him with a nod.

“How have you two been in a relationship for two seconds and you’re already a fully functioning household?” Saskia asks.  
Easy snorts. “We’re really not. I just don’t want to have to go to the shops at night when you need something all of a sudden because _someone_ ,” he side-eyes Ringo, “didn’t think it through.”  
Ringo rolls his eyes. “It was one time. Do you know how often you forget to buy things?”  
Easy looks offended at that. “ _I_ never forget to get things, _you_ forget to tell me what you need!”  
“Wha-” Ringo starts, but Tobias interrupts him. “I can’t believe you bicker more than Paco and Ellie, and they’re an _actual_ married couple.”

Ringo presses his lips together, and Easy smacks a kiss against his cheek. The slight irritation on Easy’s face from before is now replaced with a smug grin.  
“Love you.”  
Ringo rolls his eyes, but there’s no heat to it. “Love you too.”  
Bambi and Paco look at each other for a moment.  
“Aaaaaaawh!” They go in unison.  
“Okay, let’s watch the movie please.” Ringo mumbles, keeping his eyes on the screen.

 

When the movie is over, and everyone is going to bed, Ringo heads for the front door of Easy’s apartment, but Easy tugs him towards the staircase.  
They walk onto the roof terrace together, leaning over the wall and staring out into the night.  
Ringo looks to his side. “You okay?”  
Easy nods and smiles at him. “Yeah. It’s just nice to,” He bites his lip for a moment, “have you all to myself sometimes.”  
Ringo can’t help but smile at that, teeth peeking through.  
“You always have me, no matter what.”


	25. "Ringo breaks down when his exam results come back and Easy comforts him."

Easy comes home after lunch from a photography job.  
He stands in the doorway of the apartment, which is eerily quiet. He knows Tobias is at work, but if he remembers correctly Ringo didn’t have to be at the uni today, which usually results in him hanging around Easy’s apartment.  
He’s putting his coat away when he sees the door to his bedroom is closed, which is unusual.  
“Ringo?” He calls out. Easy stands completely still and listens. Nothing.

It’s odd, because Ringo also hadn’t responded to any of his texts the entire morning.  
Easy slowly pushes the door to his bedroom open.  
Ringo is laying on his side in a hoodie and some sweatpants, face curled into his pillow.  
“Hey, what’s going on?” Easy says softly.

He walks over to the bed and sits down next to Ringo. Ringo turns his head and looks at Easy, eyes red rimmed and face puffy.  
Easy feels something unsettling in his stomach.  
Ringo opens his mouth a couple of times but the words get stuck in his throat, chin wobbling.

Easy strokes Ringo’s side, every now and then pulling a hand through his hair.  
Ringo’s eyes look for his. Easy gives him a small smile.  
“Hey baby.”  
Ringo takes a deep breath that wavers a little on its way out, and shuffles around to get up into a sitting position.

It’s quiet for a moment.

“I got my exam grade back.”  
Easy frowns. “Which exam?”  
Ringo’s face sours. “The one I took when I thought I’d lost the love of my life forever.”  
Easy chooses not to think about whether Ringo is serious about that or if the heartbreak was just that intense at the time.  
Easy pushes his lips together and waits for Ringo to continue.

Ringo’s eyes water as he tears up again. “I completely failed.”  
Easy puts his hand on Ringo’s shoulder. “This is going to cost me so much time and money.”  
Ringo bites his lip and Easy sees him hold back the tears but it’s no use; fat droplets trickling down his cheeks.

“Come here.” Easy says, pulling Ringo towards him and holding him, one arm around his back and his other hand on the back of Ringo’s head.  
Easy feels Ringo’s body shake a little, but there’s no noise and Ringo is clearly trying to keep himself calm.  
Easy squeezes the back of Ringo’s neck. “Hey. Let it out.” He kisses the top of Ringo’s head. “It’s just you and me.”

Somehow a dam breaks, and Ringo cries like Easy has never seen him do before.  
Ringo’s hands twist in Easy’s T-Shirt as he keeps his face pressed into Easy’s chest.  
They sit like that for a while, Ringo’s sobs tearing through the silence.

And then the tears have run out and Ringo takes a deep breath, Easy loosening his grip so Ringo can pull away, but Ringo just turns his head to the side and presses his cheek into Easy’s shirt.  
“You can’t do the exam again?” Easy asks. Ringo shakes his head.  
“No, that was it.” Ringo wipes at his eye. “Paco had told me to postpone it, say I was sick.”

“Why didn’t you?”  
Ringo sits up so he can look at Easy.  
“Because I thought I could do it.” He looks down at his hands, and he actually looks a little ashamed. “I had been miserable for a while already, but I was convinced I could put that to the side.”  
Ringo shakes his head and huffs, as if he’s laughing at himself for being so foolish.

“I sat there in that room, and all I could think about was you.” He looks at Easy. “About how I messed everything up and I was never going to get you back.”  
Easy squeezes his eyes shut for a moment, hating to see Ringo like this.  
“I’m sorry.”  
“’S not your fault.”  
“I know, but I hate that I can’t do anything to fix it.”

Ringo looks at him, eyes dull and shoulders slumped. He looks completely _defeated_ and it’s so unlike Ringo it makes Easy’s skin crawl.  
“Lay with me.” Ringo says quietly.  
Easy smiles at him, grabbing his face in his both hands and pressing a kiss to his lips.  
“Of course.”  
He lays back and holds his arm out, waits for Ringo to tuck himself into his side.  
Easy strokes a hand through Ringo’s hair. “This okay?”  
Ringo lays his arm over Easy’s stomach.  
“Yeah. This is better.”


	26. 187: “Already? Do I really have that much of an effect on you?”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains sexual content. It's not super explicit, but it's there.

It’s strange really.

They’ve been apart for a week, whilst Easy was in Vegas with Tobias.  
Easy did text Ringo that he was coming home from the airport, but as he opens the front door he looks at Ringo as if he didn’t expect him to be here.  
Ringo is sitting at the table, still in his pj’s, hair not as neat as usual and a mug of coffee in his hand.  
He looks up at the sound of the door opening.  
“Hey!” He smiles and stands up. Easy is still looking at him in wonder.  
Ringo stops and stands still, suddenly unsure.

“Is… is something wrong?” Ringo asks.  
“You’re- you-” Easy starts. He doesn’t look angry, but Ringo can’t pin down what it is.   
Easy looks at his hands for a moment and bites his lip. Then he looks up.  
“Did you stay here all week?”

Ringo flushes. He didn’t think Easy would mind but the way he says it now… maybe he crossed a line.  
Ringo touches the back of his neck. “Uhm, yeah. I thought you wouldn’t mind.”  
Easy’s gaze gets kind of intense, the way it does when he’s honing in on something.

Easy steps closer to Ringo. “Did you sleep in my bed?”  
Ringo hesitates for a moment but then nods. He looks down and is about to make some sort of excuse, say _anything_ to get rid of this weird tension when Easy puts a finger under his chin and lifts his head.  
Easy pulls Ringo’s face forward and kisses him. Ringo half expects him to pull away instantly but something in the way Easy kisses feels different, feels solid and sustainable.

It was only a week but it felt like longer, and Easy being all up close and personal with him again makes Ringo ache with how much he had missed him.  
Easy throws an arm around Ringo’s shoulders and hauls him even closer, making Ringo softly sigh against his mouth.  
“Missed you.” Ringo mumbles in between kisses.  
Easy licks at Ringo’s lips and slides his tongue inside his mouth and it feels so good it’s _dizzying_.

“Wanna move this to my bedroom?” Easy says, chest moving up and down quickly. He grins. “Lay in the bed you’ve been sleeping in because _you missed me?_ ”  
Ringo rolls his eyes but Easy just keeps nipping at his mouth and Ringo wants him _so badly_.  
And so Easy shrugs his coat off and lets it drop to the floor, and attaches himself to Ringo again, laughing and stumbling their way into the bedroom.

Ringo holds the side of Easy’s face with one hand, and he feels Easy gliding his hands over Ringo’s chest.  
There’s a soft push at his shoulders and he falls back, Easy quickly following and climbing over him.

He lays there, looking up at Easy, and he wants to completely surrender himself.  
Easy laughs a little, eyes dancing all over his face. “You look so gone.” Ringo doesn’t have it in him to refute that.  
And then Easy kisses him again, and it’s fierce and deep and warm. He feels a hand trail over his chest, his stomach and it doesn’t stop there.  
“Already? Do I have that much of an effect on you?” Easy sounds way too smug about it but he hasn’t moved his hand and Ringo doesn’t mind the teasing.  
Easy can have it all.

Easy hovers over Ringo, looks at him adoringly. “Want me to do something about it?”  
Ringo blinks a few times and then nods. He leans up, slides his fingers through Easy’s hair as they kiss.  
It feels more open and bare somehow, and Ringo groans at the feeling of their tongues sliding together.

Easy moves his hand inside of Ringo’s underwear and it makes him lightheaded. Easy holds him, squeezing slightly before moving up and down.

He can feel himself harden even more and he paws at Easy’s shirt, moving his hands everywhere, wanting to do something but not knowing what.  
“I want to-” Ringo moans. Easy leans down and kisses him. “I know. I just wanna make you feel good.”

Easy twists his hand and Ringo’s back arches, his hands desperately grabbing at Easy’s face to bring him closer.  
Easy looks at him as he speeds up his movements, moving Ringo’s boxers down slightly. “Good?” Ringo nods breathlessly, his mouth falling open as his eyes close.

He feels raw, being at the hands of the one person who is able to break him open and turn him inside out. It doesn’t feel nearly as scary as it should.  
Easy sucks a kiss into his bottom lip, both of Ringo’s lips now red and swollen.   
Ringo opens his eyes and looks at Easy, who looks at him like he’s the only thing he could ever want.  
“You look so good like this.” Easy whispers, and Ringo groans as he comes.

Easy drops kisses all over his flushed face, as he waits until the waves of pleasure stop.  
Ringo laughs breathlessly, holding Easy’s face and kissing him. Easy tugs at his shirt. “You should take that off.”  
Ringo raises an eyebrow. “So I can wash it.” Easy says with an amused grin. Ringo pushes his lips together but sits up nonetheless, throwing the shirt over his head.

“I should also take a shower now, probably.” Ringo says, wrinkling his nose. Easy laughs and kisses his cheek. “I’m glad I’m home.”  
Ringo smiles back at him.  
“Me too.” He moves to get up. “You could come join me in the shower.”  
Easy grins at him as he walks out of the room. “Yeah?”  
“Yes, you smell.” Ringo yells from the bathroom.  
Easy rolls his eyes but smiles, getting up to follow him.


	27. "Person A gets hit on in front of Person B and Person B gets jealous."

It’s just after lunch when Easy walks into the Turnhalle. Ringo is standing behind the counter, staring at the screen in front of him.  
Easy wants to thank whoever’s idea it was to have tight black T-Shirts as the workclothing.  
“Hey.” He smiles, and Ringo looks up. “Hey, what are you doing here?”  
“I have an hour to kill before I have to go again, and I hadn’t seen you yet today.”

It’s strange how quickly Easy had now gotten used to the routine of waking up with Ringo and having breakfast together.  
On the days where Ringo had to work however, he would already be gone by the time Easy woke up.  
Still, they usually found some spare moments here and there to meet up.

Ringo focuses on the screen again. “Feel free to hang around here, I am a bit busy though.”  
“That’s fine.” Easy sits down on a stool and looks around the gym. Nearly every piece of equipment is occupied.  
There’s a guy lifting weights, closest to the desk. His shoulders are broad and his arms muscular.   
Easy sees him glancing up at Ringo every now and then.

“Everything okay?” Easy asks. Ringo hums. “Yeah, it’s fine.” He taps on the screen a few times and then turns to Easy.  
“The schedule for next week is a bit of a puzzle, but I’ll work something out.”  
Easy looks past Ringo and sees the same guy from before now having decidedly lowered his gaze, Ringo facing Easy giving him a good look at his ass.  
Easy refrains from rolling his eyes.

“Are your photography jobs getting any more interesting?” Ringo asks, a hopeful look on his face.  
Easy looks at him again. “Yeah, it’s getting a little better I think. I just have some trust to win back.”   
There’s a light cough behind them and Ringo turns around.   
“Can I help you?” Ringo asks, and Easy is amazed at how much better he’s gotten at sounding friendly to customers since working at the kiosk.

“Yeah,” the handsome stranger starts, “I have this workout schedule and I was wondering if you could look over it with me. I wanna know what you think, if I’m on the right track.”  
“Yeah sure, let’s see it.” The guy produces a few sheets of paper from his sports bag and lays them on the counter, Ringo leaning over so he can read it.  
The guy leans over as well, pointing at certain spots on the paper and explaining what he’s been doing.

As Ringo starts to give his opinion, Easy sees that the guy tunes out what he’s saying and instead lets his eyes glide all over his face.  
And Easy knows what he sees. Because they’re standing relatively close together, he can see the swoop of Ringo’s long lashes, the slight pout of his mouth that’s always there, the way Ringo’s eyes are green and grey and blue all at the same time.

His boyfriend is breathtaking, and Easy feels like he can’t even blame the guy for getting a good look.  
But something in him wants to be the _only_ person who gets to be that close to Ringo.  
And when Easy looks at Ringo, he seems to genuinely not realise that this man is not the least bit interested in his professional advice even though Ringo is doing his best to help him.

“So I think it’s a good schedule, but if you notice certain areas need more attention, don’t be too afraid to change it slightly.” Ringo finishes with a nod.  
The guy smiles at him. “Thanks.” He stuffs the papers back in his bag. “You’re quite good at this you know.”  
Ringo chuckles. “Well, it is sort of my job.”  
The guy looks back up. “You could always tell me the other parts of your job over a cup of coffee.”

Easy looks to the side for a moment, not wanting to see if Ringo maybe hesitates or worse even, doesn’t outright reject him.  
But he _has to know_ , so he looks back. Ringo is frowning.  
“What?”

The guy gestures his hand. “Well you know, if you’d like to have a drink with me sometime.”  
Ringo still doesn’t really seem to understand why this stranger is asking him out.  
“Uh, no thanks. I’m not interested.” Ringo gives a small smile, but the relaxedness and comfort of before is now gone.

The guy hauls his bag over his shoulder. “You sure? I could give you my number in case you change your mind.” Now that’s the kind of confidence Easy wouldn’t have had in this situation.  
Hell, he feels embarrassed _watching_ it.  
“I’m very sure.” Ringo says on an exhale. Easy can hear the disinterest slip back into his voice, sort of like when Lotta would ask him for a very specific arrangement of sweets.  
The guy shrugs. “Alright. Bye.”   
He walks out, and Ringo turns around, brows creased together. “Why would he ask me out?” 

Easy snorts. “Because you’re gorgeous, that’s why.”  
Ringo rolls his eyes and walks over to where Easy is sitting, standing in between his legs. “That doesn’t matter.”  
“Why not?” Easy asks.  
“Because whether or not he finds me attractive is irrelevant.”  
“Not to your ego it isn’t.” Easy says with a grin.  
“The only thing my ego needs is that you find me attractive.” Ringo says. Easy raises both his eyebrows, unimpressed.  
“Also a compliment every now and then wouldn’t go amiss.” Ringo says after a moment, and Easy laughs.

“So he’s not your type then?” Easy says, and Ringo sighs, sliding his hands onto Easy thighs.  
“He’s not you. And I love you.” Ringo leans over and kisses Easy, and Easy can feel Ringo smile.  
“I love you too.”

Easy folds his arms around Ringo’s hips. “He wasn’t wrong though.”  
Ringo looks at him questioningly. “About what?”  
Easy slides a hand down into the back pocket of Ringo’s jeans.  
“You do have a great ass.”


	28. "Easy gets angry at Tobias for how he's handling Easy and his relationship with Ringo."

He’s had enough.  
He’d been saying that for the past few weeks, but he _really_ had enough now.

The door to Easy’s bedroom is open, and he’s walking back and forth in his bedroom, sometimes moving to the kitchen and then back again.  
He steps out to the kitchen when the door opens, Tobias walking in. Easy doesn’t greet him.  
Easy looks around the table and the couch, checks if his laptop charger is there and when he doesn’t see it he walks back into his bedroom, Tobias following him.

He knows Tobias is looking at the open bag on Easy’s bed.  
“What is all this?” Tobias asks.  
There’s a few piles of clothes on Easy’s bed next to the bag, the doors to his closet open.  
Easy doesn’t turn around.   
“I’m going away for a while.”  
“What?” He hears the disbelief in Tobias’ voice and wants to laugh.

Easy sighs, tucking a pair of socks in the corner of the bag and then turning around, sinking down onto the edge of the bed.  
“I’m gonna stay with Ringo for a bit.”   
Easy can see that even the mention of his brother makes Tobias want to throw a tantrum.  
“No.” Tobias says, and there’s a pull around his eyes where he thinks he’s won somehow.  
Easy stands up and steps in front of Tobias.

“Let me make this very clear,” Easy says calmly, doing his best to keep his voice steady, “I am an adult. I make my own choices. You can’t tell me what to do.”  
Tobias pushes his lips together, and Easy shoulders past him to the living room.   
“Easy, I’m your best friend and I know Ringo better than anyone. He’s not a good person, and he never will be.”   
It’s the complete, _blind_ conviction in Tobias’ voice that snaps something inside Easy.

“No.” Easy abruptly turns to Tobias. “You don’t know him. You decided very early on that your half brother was up to no good, and you stuck to that opinion. How is Ringo supposed to become a better person if you won’t allow him to, huh?”  
Easy’s knows he’s breathing heavily, and he feels the anger he’s been trying to bury for weeks seep into his bones.

Tobias’ jaw hardens. “I’m only looking out for you.” Easy rolls his eyes. “As your best friend.” Tobias emphasises.  
“You really think this is how a best friend behaves?” Easy says, voice raised, “you won’t accept my boyfriend, you constantly ask me to choose your side and you actually _interfere_ in my relationship.”  
“Do you realise how messed up that is?” Easy is shouting now.

He walks over to the kitchen counter, dragging a hand through his hair and then turns around again, his back against the counter.  
“Was it Ringo’s idea for you to stay with him?” There’s an amount of venom in Tobias’ voice that makes Easy want to shake him. “You do realise he’s just trying to pull you away from me?”

“Pull me a-” Easy shouts but stops himself, holding a hand over his mouth and steadying himself with a breath.  
“You don’t own me. You don’t control what I do. And right now, I want to be with my boyfriend who I love, not with a guy who’s constantly criticising every single choice I make.”

Tobias’ entire demeanor is cold. “He doesn’t deserve you.”  
Easy huffs a humourless laugh. “He does actually. He’s still with me right now, even though I’ve chosen you over him a thousand times these past few weeks.”  
Easy bites his lip. “You know, I’ve had such a weak spot when it comes to you. You truly were someone special to me, someone different from everyone else. Maybe that’s why it took me so long to see what you were doing.”

Easy takes a few steps towards Tobias.   
“But don’t think you can do what you like just because of what you meant to me. I won’t take it anymore. I’m done with your constant interfering, your frankly unhealthy obsession with my relationship.”

He can see the hurt in Tobias’ eyes now, but Easy doesn’t let up.  
“To be quite honest, you have some growing up to do. You have a brother you never truly gave a chance, who you could develop a relationship with.”  
Easy shrugs. “But right now, he deserves a better brother than you.”

He walks into his bedroom, putting the clothes he’d picked out in his bag and stuffing the other things in there as well.  
“I am taking my key with me, so if I need to grab something I’ll be able to get in,” Easy says as he zips up the bag.  
He takes the bag in hand and turns around.

“The fact that you don’t see, that what you’ve done hasn’t helped me in the slightest - like you thought it would - but has actually _damaged_ me and my relationship. That’s what concerns me.”   
He can see Tobias wants to disagree but he wisely keeps his mouth shut.  
“Don’t contact me.” Easy says, knowing it’s what he has to do.

When he opens the door to Ringo’s apartment he heads straight for Ringo’s bedroom, quickly walking up the spiral staircase.  
He knocks on Ringo’s bedroom door, which opens a moment later.  
“Hey.” Ringo looks confused. “What’s going on?”  
Easy is quiet for a moment. “I’m sorry.” Ringo opens his door wider, letting Easy in.

“What for?” Easy drops the bag on the floor.  
“For not telling Tobias to fuck off sooner.” Ringo’s gaze becomes a bit cloudy. “Did you…?”  
Easy takes a deep breath and nods, feeling the sadness of the whole situation more now than before.

It must show on his face because Ringo mutters a soft, “Hey, come here,” as he opens his arms and pulls Easy close, Easy’s head resting on Ringo’s chest.  
“You didn’t have to do that you know.” Ringo says lowly, one hand petting Easy’s head.  
Easy presses a kiss to Ringo’s clothed shoulder.   
“You deserve someone who’s on your side.”


	29. 10. “I might have had a few shots.”

“Uhm, Ringo?” Ellie yells from halfway up the stairs. Ringo stands up from his bed and opens the door a bit.

“What?”  
“Can you come down for a moment?”  
Ringo rolls his eyes but walks down the stairs anyway. “You can just say what’s going on you know, why do I have to walk all the wa-” The words die in his throat.  
“Ringoooooooo!”

Easy is standing- well, _leaning_ , against the doorway, both hands in the air as he cheers for seeing Ringo.  
Ringo blinks and then turns to Ellie. “What’s going on?”  
Ellie mirrors his confusion. “I don’t know, he turned up here two minutes ago.”  
Easy walks towards Ringo and falls against his chest face first. Ringo staggers back a bit.  
“Oookay, how much did you drink?” Ringo asks, one arm now around Easy’s back to steady them both.  
Easy lifts his head slightly to look up at him, eyelids drooping slightly.  
“I might have had a few shots.”

Ringo sighs and puts a hand on the back of Easy’s neck. “Alright, let’s sit down, shall we.”   
It’s not the most gracious way to move but they get there, and Easy groans immediately.  
“This is going to hurt in the morning isn’t it.”  
Ringo laughs quietly. “Probably.”

Easy makes a few more disgruntled noises and then tries to sit up, but he loses his balance and falls over Ringo’s lap, sitting halfway on Ringo’s legs and halfway on the couch.  
He turns his head to Ringo and pouts and Ringo rolls his eyes, holding Easy around his waist and pulling him fully onto his lap, Easy now sitting sideways, Ringo keeping his hands clasped around Easy. 

“Ellie?” Ringo calls, and he moves his head to look for her. She’s standing in the kitchen, hiding an amused grin behind a glass of wine.  
Ringo tries not to feel flustered.  
“Could you get a glass of water please.” Ellie nods and brings the glass over.  
Ringo takes it. “Here, drink this.” He gives it to Easy and watches as he downs the whole thing.  
Easy gives the glass back to Ringo. “Good boy.” Ringo says, and Easy pinches his side.

“Hey! I’m taking care of you here.” Ringo says indignantly but there’s no heat behind it.  
Easy stares at him, a dumb smile on his face and after a moment he tilts his head.  
Ringo shifts his eyes. “What.”  
Easy cups Ringo’s jaw for a moment, his thumb brushing Ringo’s mouth. “You’re very pretty.” Easy mumbles, seemingly distracted with Ringo’s face.  
“Thanks.” Ringo whispers, and he presses a kiss to Easy’s thumb.

Ellie walks by them and stops, squeezing Ringo’s shoulder. “Paco’s already in bed, I’m going as well. Are you gonna be okay?”  
Ringo looks up at her and nods. “Yeah, thanks.”  
“Night!” Ellie says as she walks into her bedroom, closing the door behind her.

Ringo looks back at Easy. It’s now quiet in the apartment, the lights dimmed low and having Easy close like this comforts Ringo.  
“Why’d you drink so much?” Ringo brushes a strand of hair away from Easy’s forehead. “Hm?”  
Easy shrugs. “I don’t know. Getting drunk always seems like a good idea at first.”  
Ringo smiles and Easy leans forward, knocking their foreheads together.  
It’s quiet for a bit, both of them intently staring at each other.  
“I’m so crazy about you.” Easy whispers, nose brushing against Ringo’s.

Ringo grins. “Good.” He kisses Easy, and it’s slow and languid and he feels like he’s _melting_.  
“For the record,” Ringo says as Easy kisses his cheek, “I’m also crazy about you.”  
“Hmhm.” Easy hums as he kisses Ringo’s jaw, and then he moves, putting his knees on either side of Ringo, and he holds Ringo’s face in both hands and _really_ gets into it and it’s the sexiest thing Ringo’s ever seen.

Ringo has to tilt his head upwards to properly kiss Easy, and he rests his hands on Easy’s sides.  
Easy angles his head slightly and then Ringo can taste him.   
There’s still something incredibly overwhelming about Easy showing Ringo that he _wants_ him, and it makes Ringo lightheaded.

He pulls back with a laugh, licking his own lips. “Did you have some kind of fruity drink?”  
Easy grins, all teeth and dimples, and kisses Ringo’s lips once more.   
“It was cocktail happy hour, I couldn’t resist.”  
Ringo fondly rolls his eyes. 

Easy yawns, and Ringo realises they should probably make their way upstairs now if they ever want to get in bed.  
“You wanna go to bed?” Easy nods, the exhaustion now really beginning to show.  
Ringo taps Easy’s thighs and they get up, Easy moving decidedly slower than Ringo.

“Ringo?”  
“Yes?”  
“Will you come with me next time for happy hour?”  
“Let’s sleep for now, and we’ll see if you still want that in the morning.”


	30. 147: “I can take care of myself just fine.”

At first it’s just a few sniffles here and there. Ringo hears and sees it, but doesn’t comment on it.  
But then Easy doesn’t respond to his texts, and he gets worried.

So he figures he better check if everything’s okay.  
“Easy?” He waits and opens the front door after a few seconds.  
Ringo looks around but the living room is empty. He slowly opens Easy’s bedroom door.  
His eyes widen. “Hey, what’s going on?”  
Easy immediately sits upright a little more, a pained look on his face.   
“Nothing. What’s up?” His voice sounds hoarse and there’s a light sheen on his forehead.

Ringo looks at him with an unimpressed look on his face. He leans down and places a hand on Easy’s forehead.  
“You’re sick.” He states.  
Easy shakes his head. “No I’m not, it’s just warm in here.”  
Ringo rolls his eyes and sits down next to Easy.   
“You need to rest.” Easy nervously shifts a little. “But I have so much stuff to do with work, and I don’t-”

Ringo grabs Easy’s hand.   
“I am going to grab a wet cold washcloth for your head, and you’re going to lie down and sleep.”  
Easy looks like he wants to protest so Ringo fixes him with a stern look.

Easy grumbles but relents, laying back down. “I can take care of myself just fine.”  
Ringo smiles softly. “I know you can. But you don’t always have to.”  
He kisses Easy’s cheek and then heads to the bathroom, running a washcloth under cold water and then squeezing most of the moisture out.

When he returns to Easy’s bedroom to put the cloth on his forehead, Easy is fast asleep.   
He places the cloth carefully on Easy’s heated forehead and closes the door behind him.

It’s a few hours later when Easy’s phone buzzes on the dinner table. Ringo looks away from his laptop, not recognizing the number.  
He decides to pick up.  
“Hello, Easy Winter’s phone.”  
“Hi, I was supposed to meet with mr. Winter half an hour ago, we were going to discuss a potential job?”  
Ringo shakes his head a little. Easy knew he was sick, yet he didn’t postpone anything, not wanting to give in.

“Ah, okay. Well, I’m sorry to inform you that Easy is ill at the moment,” Ringo looks around and sees Easy’s laptop, quickly holding the phone between his shoulder and his ear so he can grab it, “but if you have a second I can reschedule that for you.”

He finds Easy’s calendar and agrees on a new date two weeks from now, that should give Easy enough room to get better first.  
“Okay, that’s fine. Thank you for calling, and he’ll see you in two weeks. Okay, bye.” Ringo ends the call, putting the phone to the side.

Since he’s already distracted, Ringo stands up and slowly pushes Easy’s door open.  
He’s still sleeping, mouth slightly open and the duvet rising and falling with each breath.  
He looks like he’s far away, which probably means he needed it. Ringo walks back to the kitchen and fills a glass with water, gently placing it on Easy’s nightstand for when he wakes up.

The next time Ringo looks at the clock it’s nearing six, and he should probably eat dinner at some point.  
“Hey.” Easy croaks from behind him, hair mussed up and eyes squinting against the light.   
“Hey, how are you feeling?” Ringo turns his chair sideways so he can face Easy.  
“Better than before.” Easy admits. Ringo holds an arm out and Easy walks towards him, Ringo tugging on his hand until Easy sits down on his lap.

Ringo envelops Easy, arms folding around his waist. He kisses Easy’s clothed shoulder. “Do you want to eat something?”  
Easy turns his head sideways a little. “Yeah, but not much.”  
Ringo nods. “I’ll make something.”  
Easy’s quiet for a few moments as he stares straight ahead. “Did I dream it or were you on the phone with someone?”

“Oh, yeah no that was real. One of your clients called,” Easy squeezes his eyes shut as he groans, Ringo rubbing his sides as he tries to reassure Easy, “but it’s all good. I explained that you were ill and I rescheduled the appointment.”  
Easy looks at him. “You did?”   
Ringo nods. “And you were here all day? You know you could’ve gone to your own room right?” Easy asks.

Ringo frowns, somehow getting the feeling he made a mistake. “Well I wanted to make sure you were okay…” He trails off, “was I not supposed to do that?”  
“No, no,” Easy immediately says, “it’s fine.” He smiles fondly as he takes in the concerned look on his boyfriend’s face, “it’s actually quite sweet.”  
Ringo squeezes him lightly.  
“I just don’t want you to feel obligated to be here.” Easy says quietly.  
“I don’t.” Ringo reassures him.  
“I’m here because I want to be.”


	31. 28. “I thought we were family.”

Ringo tries to avoid Tobias as much as he can nowadays. Any interaction they have always seems to lead to conflict, and it’s not that Ringo doesn’t think Tobias should be spared the snarky comments because he _completely_ deserves it, but because Ringo can see that Easy hates it.  
The moments alone, Easy resting comfortably in Ringo’s arms, the both of them tucked up in bed, Ringo can _feel_ Easy thinking and when he asks he gets a “nothing”, but Ringo knows Easy is worried.

Tobias gets under his skin like no other, and Ringo has legitimate problems with the way he’s acting right now, but he does see the way it breaks Easy, standing in between his best friend and his boyfriend.  
So, Ringo has decided to be the bigger person. He can feel it tugging at him, the fear that one day Easy is going to open his ears and actually _hear_ what Tobias is saying, and he’ll _believe_ it.  
He’ll drop Ringo like he’s completely convinced it’s for the best, and Ringo will be left alone and hurt.

But Tobias doesn’t leave it. He, too, sees how uncomfortable it makes Easy to be stuck in between them, but Tobias keeps provoking Ringo every chance he gets.  
Like right now. Ringo is sitting at the table in Easy’s apartment, typing away on his laptop, when Tobias opens the door and immediately pulls a face upon seeing Ringo.  
“What are you doing here? Easy isn’t here.”  
Ringo refrains from rolling his eyes and keeps his focus on the screen.

“I know, Easy said I could hang out here whilst he’s out.”, Ringo looks to the side for a moment, “ _you_ were also supposed to be out.”  
Tobias shrugs off his coat and puts his bag on one of the chairs.  
“There’s no reason for you to be here.” Tobias pulls the fridge door open, “and pretty soon there won’t be a reason for you to be in Easy’s life either.”

Ringo’s jaw hardens, and he pushes his laptop closed. He wasn’t going to do this. But Tobias just can’t let it go.  
“Is that a threat?”  
Tobias pulls the cap off of a bottle of beer and does that annoying smug half-grin that he has when he thinks he has everything figured out.  
“No. I just have faith in my best friend that he’ll see sense soon.”

Ringo huffs a humourless laugh, shaking his head in disbelief.  
Tobias gulps a sip. “You may not believe me but you’ll see.”  
Ringo pushes his lips together, determined to stay silent. He keeps thinking of Easy, thinks about how all they both want is for this to stop. The constant nagging, the comments. They get enough of that from less than gay-friendly people on the street, and Ringo is tired of the mudslinging in the comfort of his own home.

“Oh what, no comeback?” Tobias taunts.  
Ringo’s eyes flick up to him, and for a moment he feels a bit sad. He sees the flashes of a guy he used to refer to as his half-brother without getting a bitter taste in his mouth, the guy who became a better person _because_ of Easy and who had his heart broken by a girl he put everything on the line for.

But there’s this daring look on Tobias’ face, and everything in Ringo wants to flip the table.  
“You are so fucking childish.” Ringo says, voice calm and steady.  
Tobias snorts.  
“You really are.” Ringo licks his lips. “It’s weird I, I think I did have some sympathy for you at some point. What you went through with KayC was hard.”  
Ringo allows himself to soften a little. “It probably still is.” He can see Tobias’ eyes hardening.

“But you’re just bitter now. And petty.” Ringo spits, “and you keep controlling Easy under the pretense of wanting him to be happy, but when he tells you that I _make_ him happy, all of sudden Easy is blind and doesn’t know what he wants.”  
Ringo sinks his teeth into the inside of his lip until it hurts.

“Aren’t you tired yet? Because I am.” Ringo is exhausted with everything, he can feel it seeping into every conversation he has with Easy, feeling like he can’t give back as much as he used to, getting insecure about what he has to offer the longer it goes on.  
Ringo looks down at his hands on the table. “I thought we were family.”  
“Oh, so now you want to be family?” Tobias says, raising his voice.

“We may not have always gotten along, but you were always a brother.” Ringo says, a light dizzying feeling spreading in his head. Him and Tobias never really talk about the past, and it’s clearly for a reason because Ringo feels like someone is cutting the wires that made everything flow smoothly.  
Ringo can feel himself welling up.  
“I came to you when I’d slept with a guy for the first time, crying and completely convinced that I was doomed.”, Ringo pauses, “we got through that.”

When Ringo looks at Tobias, the sharpness and defensiveness is gone for a moment.  
“We’ve been through enough I think. I hate this,” Ringo gestures between Tobias and himself, “you don’t have to love me, but the least you could do is respect Easy’s boundaries. And maybe also mine.”  
Tobias rolls his eyes and the irritation flares up inside of Ringo.  
He stands up, putting his laptop in its sleeve.

“Also, you’re a grown fucking man.” He pulls the zipper.  
“I would’ve thought you would know by now that you can’t throw a tantrum everytime things don’t go the way you want them to.”  
Ringo tucks the laptop in the crook of his arm.  
“When you’re ready to stop this feud, you let me know. But I’m done trying.”  
With that, he leaves and heads for his own bedroom.


	32. 3. “I’m not jealous.”

“I’m not jealous.” Ringo says quietly.

There aren’t many other noises, but every time either of them moves, the tent rustles against the grass and their sleeping bags.  
Tobias is in a separate tent, headphones blaring some sort of action movie he’s watching which he’d announced he’d do when they all went to bed, muttering something about not wanting to hear something that’s part of nature.

They had arrived in the late evening, having stopped for some food on their way.  
Easy had checked over everything at least eight times and had gotten into his sleeping bag next to Ringo once he was satisfied, tapping away on his phone.

At Ringo’s words, Easy puts his phone away and shuffles a little closer, both of them now on their sides facing each other.  
“What?”  
“I’m not jealous.” Ringo repeats. “Of?” Easy asks, eyebrows raised.  
“Of you and Tobias. It’s not a jealousy thing.” Ringo says.  
Easy purses his lips. “What kind of thing is it?” He asks after a while.

Ringo grabs the side of his sleeping bag at pulls it further over his body. “It’s more of a… I’ve been trying really hard to be the boyfriend you deserve and I don’t want Tobias to get in the way of that… thing?”  
Easy smiles softly, and Ringo leans over, slowly pulling their lips together. Easy’s eyes meet his once he pulls away, and Ringo knows he looks just as dazed as Easy does.

He settles back and wiggles around for a moment until he’s comfortable.  
“He’s just projecting right now, he thinks that because of his own hurt, he now has some sort of mission to protect me from you.” Easy says, looking at Ringo.  
“Partially, yes.”, Ringo sighs, “but he’s also just a bit childish.” Easy looks like he wants to refute that, but Ringo beats him to it.  
“You do know you can say that right. He’s not untouchable. He has flaws and you’re allowed to point them out when you get involved.”   
Easy bites the inside of his cheek. “I know that, Ringo.”

There’s a hint of annoyance in Easy’s tone, and even though Ringo did _not_ want to do this right now, he can’t let it go.  
“You don’t have to say it like that. Because I don’t think you _do_ know. You defend him every chance you get.”  
“I don’t always defend him or his actions, but he’s been through a lot!” Easy says indignantly.  
“And _we_ haven’t?” Ringo asks, hurt.   
“Yeah, well, who’s fault was that?” Easy says angrily, and a second later Ringo sees his face drop. Easy sighs.  
“Ringo, I-”  
“It’s fine.”, Ringo interrupts, flipping onto his back so he doesn’t have to look Easy in the eye anymore, “it’s not like you’re wrong.”

Ringo can practically feel Easy thinking of what to say to break this awful tension, but he stays quiet.  
“I don’t like that it’s become this balancing game, of who’s worse than who and who has a right to say something about who.”  
Ringo turns his head to look at Easy for a moment. “Tobias doesn’t have anything to do with you and me, not when it comes to our relationship.”  
Ringo inhales deeply. “I don’t like it when you give him a say in our relationship.” Easy looks down. “I don’t do that.”  
“Easy, you let Tobias get into your head about him seeing me upset about my grade! And instead of coming to me, you went with his judgement.”

It’s silent for a good minute, and at the end of it Ringo doesn’t feel angry anymore, he just wants his boyfriend to love and trust him.  
“I’m sorry.” Easy murmurs. Ringo stretches a hand out and strokes it through Easy’s hair.  
“Thanks.” Ringo says. “I just don’t want to compete with Tobias because I’m scared I’ll lose.”  
Easy’s head shoots up at that. “You could never lose to him.”  
Ringo’s eyes narrow. “Really?” He says weakly.

Easy clambers up out of his sleeping bag, crawling closer to Ringo until he’s at Ringo’s face, holding himself up on his elbows.  
He looks at Ringo’s face for a moment, and smiles as he strokes Ringo’s cheek tenderly.  
“You’re my favourite person.” That thing in Ringo’s chest swells.  
“I love you.” Ringo says sincerely.

Easy still grins whenever Ringo says those words, and Ringo hopes the feeling it gives him never wears off.  
Ringo wraps an arm around Easy’s waist and tugs him up until Easy is pretty much laying on top of Ringo.  
His other arm lifts to come around Easy’s neck, and Easy kisses him deeply as he envelops Ringo.

Easy is all around him, no matter where he touches or breathes, and it’s as much overwhelming as it is fulfulling.   
Easy’s mouth is warm and soft, and Ringo can feel Easy’s smile against his mouth, and then they’re both smiling which makes the kissing more difficult but they’re both giggling into the space between them and it couldn’t be more perfect.

Ringo stares up at Easy as he looks at him, a fond and adoring expression on his face.  
“You’re sweet.”  
Ringo grins at that. If it were anyone but Easy saying those words to him he would roll his eyes, but Easy gets away with a lot of things like that.  
Ringo leans up to quickly kiss Easy’s lips. “Thanks baby.”

When they’re settled, Ringo on his back and Easy on his stomach, face pressed into Ringo’s neck and an arm slung across Ringo’s stomach, Easy speaks.  
“Thank you for telling me what bothers you about Tobias.”  
Ringo laughs. “It was my pleasure.” Easy softly pinches Ringo’s stomach.  
“I mean it. Please keep telling me when things bother you. Even if it seems like I don’t like hearing about them.”  
Ringo looks to his side, down at Easy. “Will do.”  
Easy kisses Ringo’s cheek. “Night.”  
“Night.”


	33. 1. “Do you want me to leave?”

“Do you want me to leave?” It comes out of Ringo’s mouth so quiet and timid, Easy knows there has to be more to it than Ringo not wanting to fight anymore.  
They’re standing in the kitchen of Ringo’s place, neither of them really understanding how they got here or how to get out.

“No, I don’t want you to leave,” Easy says, trying to bite down on his temper flaring up, “because that’s what you do all the time.”  
Ringo leans a little further back against the kitchen counter, crossing his arms over his chest, brows furrowing.  
“What do you mean?”

Easy opens his mouth and closes it again, walking a few steps towards the couch and then back to where he was standing before.  
He didn’t want to fight with Ringo, had no intention of being confrontational when he had walked in. But Ringo had been pulling away lately, not telling Easy what was bothering him and just not communicating with Easy in general and it was driving him crazy.  
Every time Easy gently inquired if there was something on his mind, Ringo shut him down.

Easy looks up at Ringo, sees the genuinely worried and confused expression on Ringo’s face and he feels the anger drain. The defensive manner falls, Easy’s shoulders dropping as all of a sudden, he’s just so _hurt_ and _tired_.  
He sighs as he grabs the back of one of the chairs and sits down at the dinner table.  
“You don’t talk to me.” Easy says lowly. Something flickers over Ringo’s face, and he pushes away from the counter, taking the seat next to Easy.

Easy waits for Ringo to speak, but when he doesn’t, he explains further.  
“It’s not like I don’t see it when something bothers you, because I do,” Easy says, “and then when I ask you about it, you clam up.”  
Ringo shuts his eyes for a moment.  
“If you don’t trust me, and don’t want to talk to me about things, that’s your right,” Easy says, voice a little shaky even to his own ears, “but I don’t think we can be together if that trust is not there.”

Ringo looks at Easy and lays a hand on his, their hands on top of each other, resting on the table.  
“I do trust you.” Ringo says, his face open and honest. Ringo can see in Easy’s face that he doesn’t agree, “I do!”, Ringo reaffirms.  
“Easy, you have so much more experience than me when it comes to relationships.” Ringo says, his voice reserved and uncertain.

“I’m used to dealing with things on my own,” Ringo pauses for a moment, shaking his head for a moment, “and not always because I wanted to but because it was the only option.”  
Easy hooks a thumb over Ringo’s hand and strokes it lightly.

“When something’s bugging me, my first instinct is not to talk about it with someone, it’s to be by myself and figure out how I’m going to deal with it.”  
Easy tuts, rolling his eyes. “It’s just what I’m used to Easy, it’s not that stupid,” Ringo says, slightly irritated.  
“Yes it is!”, Easy says, grabbing Ringo’s arm, “because you have me! Because I love you, and I want to be part of your life, and I want to know everything there is to know. You can talk to me, and we can figure things out together.”

Easy gives Ringo a fond smile. “It’s one of the nice parts about having a boyfriend,” Easy leans over, pressing a kiss against Ringo’s cheek whose face softens, “and no, it’s not an obligation, it’s not stupid when you come to me with problems and it’s not silly.”

Ringo pouts a little, eyebrows pulling down as he thinks about what Easy just said. “And you don’t think you’ll get sick of me when I share everything with you?”  
Easy laughs lightly, shaking his head. “Are you sick of me yet?”  
Ringo swats Easy’s arm. “‘Course not.”

“Then why would I turn you away once you start telling me how you feel?” Easy leans an elbow on the table, his chin resting on his fist, looking up at Ringo.  
“Especially since I’m _asking_ you to do that.” Easy looks at Ringo, can feel how unsure he still is about all of this. “When you tell me things, it makes me feel closer to you. And I like that.”

When Easy puts it like that, it sounds a lot more simple, and Ringo can understand the appeal.  
Ringo slowly nods his head. “Okay. I’ll try.”  
Easy smiles gratefully. He leans closer, and leisurely kisses Ringo. “That’s all I can ask for.”


	34. 92. “Let’s move in together.”

Easy is having drinks with Paco and Saskia, Ellie dropping in every now and then whilst she works, when it first comes up.  
“Is your boyfriend not joining us?” Paco asks as Easy pushes himself on one of the barstools.  
“Nah, he had something to do for school.” Easy says, smiling gratefully at Ellie as she wordlessly places a beer in front of him.  
“Ah, so that’s what he’s up to nowadays.” Paco comments, a sly grin on his face. Easy raises his eyebrows.  
“It’s just, I wouldn’t know since I rarely see him anymore.” Paco says as he simpers, Saskia jumping in to agree with him.

“That’s actually true. If we’re eating all together in the flatshare, you and Ringo always come in together, he’s never already there.”   
Easy rolls his eyes but then stills for a moment. “That’s not a bad thing though, right?”  
Paco immediately shakes his head. “It’s not,” He brings his own glass to his mouth, “to be honest I’m just waiting for you guys to move in together.”

Easy laughs a little, face dropping when he sees Paco and Saskia are decidedly less amused.  
“You can’t be serious,” Easy says, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, “we’re not ready for that.”   
And then, after a moment, “Ringo is not ready for that.”

Ellie walks over with an empty tray, setting it down on the bar and throwing an arm around Easy’s shoulders.  
“I know it’s none of my business, but I’ll just say this,” She holds Easy’s eyes for a moment, “he’s left our apartment grumpy and came back happy from your place pretty much every single day this week.”

She squeezes his shoulder lightly, smiling at him before passing him by, moving on to a customer.  
Easy stares into nothing for a moment, feeling a bit thrown by his friends’ comments.

It’s not like the thought hadn’t crossed his mind _at all_. He could feel Ringo slipping into his life bit by bit, and he didn’t mind at all which is sign in and of itself.   
Ringo lent his keys all the time, as well as his clothes, the latter often because Ringo would wake up in Easy’s bed and couldn’t be bothered to stop at his own place before heading out.  
Easy bought a pack of Ringo’s favourite coffee, tucking it away in the corner of a cupboard and using it whenever he made coffee for just the two of them, Ringo commenting on how good it was each time.

For heaven’s sake, Ringo had walked in the other day, a bundle of new socks in his hand which he put down in front of Easy because “all of your socks have holes in them, Easy.”.  
Once Easy pays attention to how much their lives are intertwined already, moving in together doesn’t seem that much of leap, at least not on his end.

Easy sighs. “Ringo is quite fond of his own space though. And his time alone.”   
Saskia shakes her head a little, pursing her lips as if she can’t believe Easy would say something so ridiculous.  
“You’ve made it work so far in your relationship, haven’t you?” She shrugs. “Or you could, you know, talk to him about it.”

Easy throws back the remainders of his drink and says goodbye to his friends, hopping down onto the ground and makes his way from Schiller back to his apartment.  
As soon as he turns the corner, onto the hallway that leads to the front door, he smells food. Something with onions and tomatoes.

He opens the front door, standing still as he sees Ringo, focused on cutting mushrooms, a teatowel thrown over his shoulder and a pan softly bubbling away on the stove in front of him.  
Easy is in awe at the sight.

“Hey.” He says, looking up only once he’s finished with the mushrooms. When he does, he notices that Easy still hasn’t moved, the door still open.  
“Everything okay?” Ringo asks, a gentle smile on his face as he wipes his hand on the teatowel.  
Easy pushes the door away from him until it clicks closed, taking two steps so he’s face to face with Ringo and leaning up slightly, his nose nudging Ringo’s.

He hovers for a moment, sees how Ringo looks as intoxicated as Easy feels being this close, Ringo’s eyes zeroing in on his mouth.  
Easy can’t help but smile, one corner of his mouth tugging up as he kisses Ringo, the smooth warm slide a familiar homecoming.

He throws one arm around Ringo’s shoulder, hauling him closer so that their chests are pressed together. Easy feels overcome with adoration and affection, wanting and _needing_ Ringo to know.  
Easy moves Ringo’s shirt up a little, warm hands gliding over his sides and Easy feels Ringo let out a suprised intake of breath.  
Ringo’s mouth curves into a smile against Easy’s, and he pulls back, his own hands covering Easy’s arms.

“Let’s move in together.” Easy says breathlessly.  
Ringo’s eyes find his. There’s a tiny little self-deprecating laugh which Easy recognizes all too well.  
“I’m not sure you’ll actually like living with me.”

Easy slides his hands from Ringo’s sides to his back, holding them there and enveloping Ringo in his arms.  
“I probably will, because I really like having you here,” Easy follows Ringo’s eyes as he tries to look away, “and if it doesn’t work out then it doesn’t work out.”  
Ringo’s gaze snaps back to him. “I don’t want this to break us up, Easy.”

“Neither do I, but I think we’re strong enough to at least try it,” Easy grazes a kiss against Ringo’s jawline, “but only if you want to.”  
Ringo folds his arms around Easy, hugging him closer.  
“It’s probably not even that big of a change from what we’re doing now is it.”

Easy grins against Ringo’s chest. “I don’t think so, no.”  
Ringo stays quiet for a moment, so Easy looks up at him, Ringo biting the inside of his lip.  
“Do you really want me here?” Ringo says, eyes squinted and Easy can see it’s genuine question.

Easy nods. “I do. Because I love you, and I like having you close. It feels a little less like home when you’re not here.” Ringo’s face softens.  
“And I guess,” Easy stretches the last word, “you’re not _that_ bad to wake up next to.”

Ringo promptly pushes Easy away, shaking his head in amusement as Easy laughs.   
Ringo turns back to the stove, grabbing a spoon from the side to stir the red sauce. “I’m not going to cook every night, you know.”  
Easy snorts. “You don’t do that now, either. I think I’ll survive.” Ringo grins at him.

“Oh, wow.” Easy says, eyes widening slightly as a thought pops up.  
“We’re turning into a really domestic couple, aren’t we.” Ringo laughs wholeheartedly, head thrown back and eyes squeezed shut. “No we’re not. Now would you be a dear and set the table?”


	35. "Not sure if you could tell, but I’m not exactly a people person."

“Not sure if you could tell, but I’m not exactly a people person.”  
Easy nods. “I know.”  
Ringo squeezes his hands together. “Some days I just don’t want to be bothered by anyone.”  
Easy raises his eyebrows. Ringo rarely turns him away, and they spend a lot of time together. Did he feel pressure to hang out with him, even though he needed some time on his own?

Easy stands up from Ringo’s bed and sinks down onto the floor, crosslegged, now facing Ringo.  
It’s silent for a good few moments, and Easy mulls over everything in his head, not knowing how to piece it back together.  
Ellie had mentioned to Easy how Ringo spent a lot of time cooped up in his room lately, and Easy had gotten worried. 

And now they were talking about how Ringo needed some time to distance himself, but Easy could feel himself get insecure, what if Ringo needed a break from him?  
What if they stepped into something they weren’t ready for? What if Ringo didn’t love him anymore and was trying to break up with him?  
What if Ringo _does_ love him, but can’t handle spending a lot of time with a person?

Ringo softly taps his sock-covered foot against Easy’s knee. “Hey, what are you thinking?” He says gently.  
Easy looks up at him. “I just…”, Easy takes a breath, “I guess I never really realised how different we are as people.” Easy looks to the side for a moment, lets his eyes glide over the walls of Ringo’s bedroom.

A place he kept away from everyone, including Easy to a certain extent. This was _his_ room, a place that clearly felt personal enough to him to not want other people in it too often.  
“Ringo, I consider hanging out with our friends at Schiller relaxation, but for you that’s something which _takes_ more energy than it gives.”  
“And?” Ringo asks, head tilted.

“Well I,” Easy clears his throat, _gosh_ this is difficult, “I don’t want to make you feel like you _have_ to spend a lot of time with me if that’s not what you want.”  
Ringo’s eyebrows draw down, his eyes narrowing. “Easy, I _want_ to spend time with you. I like hanging out with you.”  
Easy feels the knot in his stomach dissolve slightly. “But what you just said about not being a people person…”  
Ringo snorts. “You’re not ‘people’, Easy.” Easy blinks.  
“You’re,” Ringo gestures with his hand as if it’s an obvious thing but Easy just shakes his head, “you know, you’re… you’re special.”

Easy sighs. “Ringo you don’t have to-” Ringo slides down from the bed, sitting down on the floor opposite Easy.  
“Well clearly I do, because you have no idea.” Ringo leans forward on his knees, grabbing Easy’s face with both hands and connecting their lips.  
Easy’s hand comes up to hold the side of Ringo’s face, a soft content sigh escaping him.  
Ringo pulls away, still holding Easy’s face as he lovingly looks at him.  
“You’re not just everyone Easy,” Ringo says, looking Easy in the eyes, “I like being with you and being close.”

Easy pushes his lips together. “But?”  
Ringo sits back. “I do like some time to myself sometimes, yes.” Ringo shrugs. “But so do you. You hate it when I bother you when you’re editing photos.”  
Easy softly smiles. “But I’ve never had anyone who I wanted to be with, and spend as much time with, as you.” Ringo says, sincerity written all over his face, wanting his words to sink in.  
“So you’re not going to get tired of me?” Easy asks with a small voice.  
Ringo’s eyes widen, immediately shakes his head. “No, of course not. I’m in this.”

Ringo opens his arms, his back leaning against the bed, and Easy crawls over, settling in between Ringo’s legs, his back against Ringo’s chest, Ringo’s arms around him.  
“I love you. You never have to doubt that.”


	36. "Ringo lets Easy take the lead when they sleep together."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up: this chapter contains sexual content.

Easy is sitting in bed, back resting against the wall, hands flicking through a thick photography book. The pictures are stunning, and good reference material for a job he has coming up.  
He can hear the front door click open, and he shuts the book. “Easy?”   
Ringo. Easy smiles to himself. “In here.” He calls out.

The bedroom door opens and Ringo walks in, the singular lamp that’s on in Easy’s room bathing him in warm, yellow light.  
Ringo smiles softly at the sight in front of him, the flushed apples of his cheeks rounding.  
“Tired?” Easy asks, tugging the duvet back so Ringo can step in.  
“A little.” Ringo replies, promptly undoing his belt, taking of his jeans and his shirt until he’s left with just his boxers, sliding in next to Easy.  
Easy lifts his arm and Ringo tucks himself underneath it, head leaning up and lips pouted until Easy leans down and kisses him.

Easy’s fingers draw lazy circles over the skin of Ringo’s bare arm, and Ringo sinks a little deeper into the mattress.  
He feels heavy, tired from a day of being busy, but not completely exhausted. More languid, sated.  
“Did you have a good day?” Ringo whispers to Easy, who is staring off into the distance.  
Easy nods, putting the book on away on his nightstand with one arm. “Yeah, it was alright.”  
He looks at Ringo for a moment, just studying his face and taking in his features.

Ringo reaches his hand up, pulling Easy’s face down and connecting their lips. The angle gets uncomfortable after a few moments, and Ringo holds Easy’s shoulders as he lays himself down, looking up at Easy as Easy is now above him.  
Easy lovingly strokes Ringo’s hair from his forehead and kisses him, his warm hand over Ringo’s neck, just under his jawline.

Ringo can feel Easy’s arms start to shake next to him, and he taps the palms of his hands against them.  
“It’s okay,” Ringo whispers breathlessly, lightly biting at Easy’s lips. Easy exhales with a grin, “I’ll fall,” but Ringo just nods his head, “I know, it’s fine, I can take it. I like it.”  
And so Easy lowers himself down, his entire body now on top of Ringo, pressing him into the mattress.

Easy looks at Ringo and nods once, asking if he’s okay. Ringo just brings their mouths together, groaning at the feeling of being able to feel everything of Easy, the pressure of his weight pleasant and grounding.  
Ringo can feel Easy’s tongue sliding past his lips, and then he needs more. He grabs at Easy’s shirt, who takes the hint and sits up for a second to remove it, shoving his sweatpants down as well, both dropping on the floor next to the bed.

When Easy returns to Ringo he holds his hands out, chest rising and falling quickly. “How do you wanna do this?”  
Ringo knows why Easy asks. The way they are positioned now isn’t very convenient for how they usually do things.

“Could we… switch?” Ringo says, not entirely sure where it comes from or how Easy feels about this, but it feels right to him.  
Easy’s face clears up. “You want me to…?”   
The corner of Ringo’s mouth tugs up, the two of them suddenly dancing around using certain words when they’re normally not too shy around each other.

Ringo grabs hold of Easy’s hands and pulls him closer, brushing their lips together before pressing their cheeks together, Ringo’s lips to Easy’s ear.  
“Make love to me.” He whispers, one eyebrow raised and a cheeky grin on his face as he pulls back to look at Easy, who smiles as he nods.

“So cheesy.” Easy mutters with a teasing grin as he tears a silver packet open, shoving his underwear down and applying the condom onto himself.  
Ringo wiggles around a bit to get more comfortable, “just shut up and get on with it please.”  
Easy holds eye contact as he lines himself up, slowly going in as Ringo adjusts to the feeling.  
Ringo’s mouth falls open, eyes rolling back as Easy drops kisses all over his face.  
“You good?” Easy pulls Ringo’s bottom lip into his mouth, sucking on it before letting it go.

Ringo releases a shuddering breath. It doesn’t matter what he does, whichever way he makes the tiniest movement, he can feel Easy inside of him.   
It’s an incredibly overwhelming feeling, knowing he’s completely at Easy’s mercy. He feels open and raw, but he’s with the person he trusts the most.

His eyes open, hands gliding over Easy’s arms for a moment. “I-”, he pauses, “I’ve never done this before.”  
Easy tilts his head. “With anyone?” Ringo nods, and he can tell Easy understands the weight of those words, the trust they hold.

Ringo squeezes Easy’s sides. “You can move now, I think.” Easy tentatively pulls back a little, only to draw forward again.  
They find a rhythm shortly after that, a flush working its way from Ringo’s cheeks down to his neck and his chest.  
Easy angles his hips slightly and Ringo’s back arches off of the bed. They meet in the middle, their mouths sloppily meshing together.   
Ringo can feel a tightening in his lower abdomen, “I’m close,” he groans as Easy nods his head in agreement.  
Easy leans over Ringo a little more, gets a hand around him and Ringo climaxes, Easy following him.

Ringo is still breathing heavily when Easy comes back from the bathroom, having cleaned both of them. Easy crawls into bed next to him, drawing the covers over both of them and lying on his side as he looks at Ringo.

“What are you thinking?” Easy whispers.  
Ringo smiles, his head turning as he looks at Easy. “Just that I love you. Like I’ve never loved anyone else.”  
He slowly maneuvers, wincing slightly against the soreness but ending up on his side regardless, opposite Easy, drawing a hand through Easy hair, the both of them grinning stupidly at each other. His thumb brushes against Easy’s lip.   
“I think I’m onto something good here.”


	37. 174. “Can I touch you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: This chapter contains a detailed description of a panic attack.

It’s late afternoon when Easy gets back to his flat. It had been one of those days where everything just felt a bit off.  
He’d wanted to make himself a nice cup of coffee that morning before he left for work, but Tobias hadn’t gone to the supermarket and thus they were out of coffee, which meant Easy had walked around with a banging headache until he gave in and spent a ridiculous amount of money on an overpriced cup of coffee from a café.  
His schedule was airtight that day, meaning that if any of his three clients were late, he’d be in trouble.  
His first client was half an hour late, and after that he got yelled at by his second client for not being on time.

Easy’s feet ache as he toes off his shoes, setting aside his jacket and his bag. He makes his way over to the couch, slowly sinking down and sighing at the relief of being able to rest.  
He flicks through a magazine and then puts it back on the coffee table. He shifts for a moment, moving his weight from left to right and back again.  
He’s still tense, and Easy can feel he’s not calming down. He holds his hands out in front of him and sees that they’re shaking.

It’s as if all of a sudden he’s very aware of everything, the light in the kitchen is too bright, the people outside on the street are too loud and his heart is beating far too fast.  
Easy can feel his breathing quicken, and then it’s like he can’t keep up with his own body.  
He presses a hand to his chest, his back now bent as he tries to get his breathing back to normal but it’s not helping.  
“What’s happening,” Easy mutters, tears pricking his eyes because everything just feels _too much_ , too overwhelming.

There’s a loud ringing noise and Easy jumps. His eyes fall on his phone, and he grabs it, sliding off the couch and onto the ground in the process.  
Ringo.  
Immediately a thought hits Easy, that Ringo might not want to see him in this state, but he doesn’t know what else to do so he picks up.  
“Hey, I haven’t heard from you all day!” Ringo sounds cheerful, happy to talk to his boyfriend.

Easy wheezes, his breath climbing higher up in his chest, clamping down on his throat until he feels like he’s going to choke.  
“Easy?” Ringo asks, a definite hint of concern there now.  
“Please help. I’m home.” Easy manages to get out, and then Ringo hangs up. The door opens twenty seconds later.

“Easy!” Ringo spots him straight away and hurries over. Easy looks at him, face flushed and chest moving up and down in a fast pace. He looks as scared as he feels.  
“Come on,” Ringo grabs Easy’s arms and raises them over his head, hooking his own arms under Easy’s armpits and pulling him up onto the couch.  
Ringo maneuvers him so that Easy’s lying down flat. “Are you lightheaded?” Ringo asks, and Easy nods his head, white spots in his vision.  
For a moment Ringo is gone but then he’s back at Easy’s side, three pillows under his arm which he puts underneath Easy’s feet.  
Then he kneels down onto the ground next to the couch.

“Can I touch you?” Ringo asks, and Easy turns his head and nods, a grimace of pain and fear on his face and tears now running over his cheeks.  
“Okay, now I’m going to press your thumb,” Ringo grabs Easy’s hand, “against my wrist, and I want you to close your eyes and really feel my heartbeat.”  
Ringo holds Easy’s hand against his arm, making sure Easy’s thumb hits his artery.  
“Can you feel it?” Ringo keeps his eyes on Easy’s face, “Just keep focussing on that. It’s nice and steady.”

And then the gasps get a little less intense, and less frequent. Every now and then Easy inhales and it goes up quite high, but then he holds it for a few seconds and slowly he breathes out again.  
They sit there for a few minutes as Easy’s breathing begins to stabilize.  
Easy lets go of Ringo’s wrist and tries to sit up, looking at Ringo, teary eyed.  
The tension and stress is gone now, and Ringo can see the dam break, and Easy starts to cry.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Ringo throws the pillows on the ground and sits down on one edge of the couch, his back against the armrest, and he pulls Easy against him, holds Easy’s head againt his chest as he sobs.  
Ringo can feel Easy quietly shake, but he knows his boyfriend well enough to know that Easy’s holding back.  
“It’s okay. Just let it go.” Ringo can feel wetness dripping down his chest, holding Easy in his arms and rubbing his back and his arms soothingly.  
The crying causes Easy’s body to convulse and Ringo can hear Easy’s breathing grow panicked, so he brushes a hand through Easy’s hair.  
“Can you hear my heartbeat?” Ringo slowly and softly rocks Easy back and forth. “I’m right here with you.”

Minutes and minutes pass before either of them speak.  
“Thank you.” Easy croaks from below. Ringo smiles and presses a kiss into Easy’s hair. “S'okay.”  
Easy moves out of Ringo’s arms so he can look at Ringo.  
“How did you know exactly what to do?” Easy’s eyes move over Ringo’s face, and Ringo’s silence says enough, but he answers anyway.

“I used to get them all the time when my parents passed away.” Ringo looks away for a moment, the memory of grieving for the loss of his parents still painful.  
“I’d have a nightmare, and then I’d wake up hyperventilating.” Ringo can feel Easy grab his hand. “I didn’t want to do anything about it at first, but it started happening so frequently I looked up what you were supposed to do to get through a panic attack.”

Easy opens his mouth to speak, clearing his throat. “What about Kira?”  
Ringo shrugs, a regretful look on his face. “I didn’t want to bother her. We were both having a rough time.”  
He smiles at Easy, putting an arm over Easy’s shoulder. “I should have asked for help though. Would have made it easier.”  
Easy nods, and Ringo knows that if Easy hadn’t just had a panic attack he would have lectured Ringo on how letting people help you doesn’t make you weak or stupid.

Ringo takes a deep breath, relieved that Easy’s calmer now.  
“So, rough day?” Ringo asks. Easy looks at him and nods, “yeah.”  
Easy just stares at Ringo for a moment, a soft smile blooming on his face before moving over and cuddling up to him.  
“I’m better now though.”


	38. 154. “There’s only one bed…”

It’s late at night when Easy gets back. He slowly pushes the front door open, the living room dimly lit and his roommate sitting at the table.  
“Oh hey, I didn’t think you’d still be up.” Easy says, tossing his keys on the table and shrugging his jacket off.  
“I had some work to do,” Tobias replies, “plus I wanted to make sure you were okay.”  
Easy opens the fridge and bends down, grabbing a bottle of water. “Why would I not be okay?” He frowns.  
“Well anyone who voluntarily spends an evening drinking with my brother should be checked out.”

Easy rolls his eyes and takes a sip. “I still don’t get it you know. You hated each other for years and now you’re buddies?” Tobias asks incredulously.  
The cap of the bottle twists in his fingers as Easy thinks.

It hadn’t felt that weird to him and Ringo. Sure, they had hated each other’s guts for years, but as time passed they grew closer.   
They had always run into each other, they couldn’t _not_ see each other. Moments were shared.  
Ringo would sometimes show his more vulnerable and soft side to Easy, and every now and then Easy would let his judgement of Ringo slide and see that he just needed a friend.

And as much as Easy hated to admit it, Ringo had played a pretty big part in him coming out. It was nice to have someone ‘on the inside’.  
Easy had been out for a while now, and his friends, Ringo included, had encouraged him to step into the dating scene.  
So far it hadn’t brought him much further than two or three dates with the same guy, but it felt better than nothing.

On more than one occassion Easy had found himself sitting on his couch with Ringo after a date, take-out on his lap, telling Ringo how his date had gone.  
Easy’s taste in men must need some fine-tuning because that bit was often more fun and enjoyable to him than the date itself.

“Time passes, doesn’t it,” Easy shrugs, “we’re friends now as well, aren’t we?” Easy gestures in between himself and Tobias.  
Tobias fixes him a stare. “That is not the same thing.” He closes his laptop. “I’m sure you know what you’re doing though.”  
Easy laughs. “Hmhm.” Tobias squeezes his shoulder as he walks past. “I’m off. Night.”  
“Night.” Easy echoes, leaning against the kitchen counter as he finishes his water.

He’s lost in thought when there’s a soft knock at the door. Easy turns his head and slowly opens the door.  
“Hey, sorry for dropping by so late.” Ringo whispers. Easy laughs softly. “We saw each other like twenty minutes ago, Ringo.”  
Ringo looks sheepish at that. Easy shakes his head. “D'you wanna come in, or?”  
Ringo shifts his weight from one foot to the other, tugging a hand through his hair.  
“Yeah, uhm,” He walks into the living room, Easy closing the door behind him, “normally I wouldn’t want to bother you, but one of Elli’s family members is staying at ours, and they gave her my room since I was out so late, they didn’t think I was going to come back.”

Easy narrows his eyes at him. “Why would they think you weren’t coming back?” Ringo just pushes his lips together, pointedly looking at Easy.  
“They really think you and me are…?” Easy asks, a hint of amusement on his face. Ringo smiles back at him.  
“They can’t make their mind up can they, either it’s weird that we’re friends or we’re sleeping together.”  
Easy looks at Ringo, waits for a teasing comment or a joke, but he just looks at him, a small smile on his face and eyes fond.  
“So, did you want to crash here?” Ringo clears his throat and nods.  
“Yeah, if it’s not too much trouble.”

“No, of course not,” Easy starts, looking from his bedroom back to the living room, “oh, there’s only one bed…”  
The flush on Ringo’s face deepens. “I can just… take the couch.”  
Easy looks at the couch, which is covered in Tobias’s paperwork and some other things which Easy does not feel like getting rid of.  
“And have you complain to me all day tomorrow about the ache in your back, no thanks.” Easy grins.

Ringo still looks a bit apprehensive. Easy speaks again. “I can take the couch if you’re uncomfortable, but my bed is big enough for us both.”  
Ringo opens his mouth and then closes it again. Easy patiently waits, giving Ringo a small smile when he catches his eye.  
“I’m okay if you are.” He eventually says. Easy nods, following Ringo as they walk into his bedroom.

Ringo slowly sits down on the side of Easy’s bed, looking out of place and unsure of what to do next.  
“I sleep in a shirt and boxers, is that okay?” Easy says, turning the big light off and switching on the small lamp next to his bed.  
“Yeah, sure.” Ringo says, and he pauses for a moment, hands on his knees. “I left so fast I didn’t really bring anything, I’ll just sleep in my boxers.”  
Easy nods and sits down on the other side of the bed, both of them now facing the other way. 

Slowly Easy takes off his shoes, then his socks. He sighs for a moment before turning around. “Why is this weird all of a sudden?”  
Ringo turns around and looks at him, a shy smile on his face. “I don’t know. There’s no reason for it to be weird.”

Easy nods in agreement, and then stands up quickly, shoving down his jeans in one go and stepping out of them. “I’ll go and brush my teeth so you can change.”  
Five minutes later they’re both in bed. The light is still on, and Easy reaches out a hand to turn it off before freezing halfway.  
“Do you need a light for something, or?” Ringo shakes his head. “No, I’m alright.”  
There’s a small click and then the room is dark, only the moonlight filtering in through the window.  
They’re lying next to each other, on their backs, staring at the ceiling.  
Easy is just about to say goodnight and lay on his side when Ringo speaks.

“Thank you. For tonight.” Easy turns his head towards him.  
“It’s no bother, you can stay here whenever you need to.”  
Ringo shuts his eyes for a moment. “No, not for that. I mean, I appreciate that too, it’s just…” He pauses and breathes deeply, “thank you for hanging out with me tonight. I needed the company.”

Easy frowns, but then he counts backwards in his head. “It’s four years today, isn’t it.”  
He can feel Ringo nod beside him. He keeps his gaze in front of him, figuring it might be easier for Ringo talk about this if he’s not looking at him.  
“I was actually really dreading it,” Ringo says, voice thick with emotion, “it was looming all day and I just didn’t want to be alone.”

Easy reaches out without looking and he feels Ringo grab hold of his hand.   
“The past years I’ve gotten through these nights with a bottle of whiskey and a locked door.” Ringo laughs but it’s hollow and bitter.  
“And then I bumped into you, and you just asked if I wanted to go for a drink. Just like that. Like any other day.” Easy runs his thumb over Ringo’s hand.  
“It was nice,” Ringo says quietly, “being with you and just laughing, and talking.”  
Easy slowly rolls his head towards Ringo. “You can talk about them. If you want to.” Ringo turns his head to look at him, their faces now close.  
“It’s okay.” Ringo looks Easy in the eyes. “This is nice.”

Easy gives him a small smile, and then leans in, slowly presses his lips to Ringo’s cheek, right next to his mouth, lingering for a moment before moving back again.  
When he looks at Ringo again, his eyes are closed, savoring the moment. Ringo swallows, and then opens his eyes.  
“Goodnight.” Ringo whispers. “Goodnight.” Easy whispers back, and before he has a chance to turn over and lay on his side, Ringo moves over, laying his head on Easy’s chest.  
Easy stills, then puts an arm around Ringo.  
“Is this okay?” Ringo whispers. “Yeah.” Easy whispers.

Easy stays like that, telling himself that he’ll wait until Ringo’s asleep and then he’ll turn over, but by the time Ringo’s asleep, so is he.


	39. 60. “You’d be a great dad.”

When Ringo opens the door to Easy’s apartment in the middle of the day, pretty much the last thing he expects is to find Easy having lunch at the table with Lotta.  
But that is what he walks into.

Brows crinkled at the sight in front of him, Ringo slowly drops his bag on the floor and shoulders off his coat.  
“Uhm, hi?” Ringo says. Easy looks up at him and smiles as if it’s the most normal thing in the world. “Hey.”  
Ringo looks at Easy, then quickly shifts to Lotta and then back to Easy again.  
Easy swallows a bite before answering. “Rufus brought her here this morning. He had some things to take care of and he couldn’t find a babysitter.”

Lotta stares at Ringo, chewing, before tilting her head. “What are _you_ doing here?”  
Ringo’s brows shoot upwards and Easy snorts at the implication that the abnormality here is Ringo in Easy’s apartment.  
“What am I doing here? I li-” Ringo stops himself when he realises what he was about to say, a flush tinting his cheeks. When he quickly looks sideways, Easy just looks amused.

“I’m here all the time.” He finishes. Lotta narrows her eyes at him but Ringo walks into the kitchen, grabbing a plate out of the cupboard and taking a place at the table, Lotta in front of him and Easy to his side.  
He’s halfway through cutting his bread when Lotta pipes up again. “ _Why_ are you here all the time?”

Ringo’s eyes glide over the table until he finds what he wants and grabs it. “Because I like being here.”  
He’s about to ask Easy how his morning has been when he gets interrupted. “Why do you like being here?”  
Ringo pushes his lips together and looks at Lotta, trying his best not look as irritated as he feels.  
“Well, why do you like being at home?” He asks, thinking that maybe he can shut this conversation down if he turns the question on Lotta.  
She’s quiet for a moment, genuinely thinking about it. “Because I love my dad.”

Ringo pauses, before stuffing a piece of bread in his mouth. “Right. Well I like being here because I love Easy.”  
Easy looks at him, mouth twitching into a smile. Lotta moves her now empty plate away and sits back in the chair. “Okay.”  
Ringo halts, looking at Easy who shrugs with a grin, then he returns his attention on his plate as he finishes his lunch.

“Right. I do have to leave for a little bit, but I’m sure you’ll be okay.” Easy says as he stands up. Ringo’s eyes widen as they shoot to Easy.  
“Rufus is picking her up soon. Good luck!” Easy reassures, quickly throwing on a jacket and walking out the door.  
Ringo quickly clears the table and then sits back down, putting his laptop in front of him and opening up a file from work.  
“What are you doing?” Lotta asks. “Work.” Ringo replies without taking his eyes off of the screen.

“And what am I supposed to do?” Lotta says, looking around the room, clearly already bored.  
“Well, what do you normally do when you have to entertain yourself?” Ringo says, squinting at the numbers in front of him.  
“All of my stuff is at home.” Lotta points out, and when Ringo looks at her over his laptop, she’s looking down at her hands, decidedly less happy than when Easy was with her.

Ringo thinks for a moment, and then sighs. “Okay.” He shuts his laptop and grabs his tablet from his bag.  
He taps a few times and then puts it back on the table, in between him and Lotta.   
“Let’s play a memory game.”

By the time Easy walks back in with Rufus in tow, Lotta has won at least five games.   
“Oh, a snake! You had snake not too long ago!” Ringo says, eyes moving from one card to the other and then looking up at Lotta, who’s pursing her lips whilst trying not to grin.  
“You know where it is don’t you.” Ringo says, and he sighs when Lotta nods.   
“I’m gonna guess it’s the one in the corner.” Ringo taps the card in the corner, and it flips around to be a cow.  
Lotta raises her arms in victory. “I win again!”  
Ringo shakes his head. “You’re too good at this.”  
“Hey guys.” Easy smiles, putting the grocery bags on the kitchen counter, Rufus following him.

Ringo sits back and stretches his arms as Lotta gets up from her chair and hugs her dad. Easy walks by him to give him a kiss.  
“Everything okay?” He asks, staying close. Ringo nods. “Yeah, I think she had a good time.”  
Easy squeezes his shoulders as Rufus looks at them. “Thank you so much for hanging out with her, it really helped.”  
“No problem.” Easy smiles, and Rufus takes Lotta by the hand. They’re nearly out the door when Lotta turns around to wave.  
“Bye Ringo Flamingo!” Ringo can’t help but laugh. “Bye Lotta.”

Easy slides his hands down Ringo’s chest from behind him, leaning down to kiss Ringo’s cheek. Ringo’s eyes close, and Easy continues a trail of kisses along Ringo’s jaw and neck.  
Ringo’s grabbing onto Easy’s arms and pulling him closer when Easy whispers, “you’d be a great dad.” Ringo’s eyes open.

“Sorry?” Ringo says, feeling Easy grin against his neck, biting softly into the flesh before pulling back. “Y'know. Should that be something you’d want to do someday.”  
Ringo huffs a small laugh. “When that day comes, will you be there?”   
Easy presses his own cheek against Ringo’s.   
“Of course.”


	40. "What if Ringo had actually bailed the morning after sleeping with Easy for the first time?"

It’s strange waking up to emptiness. Funnily enough, Easy normally wakes up on his own, but when he does that morning he can feel it hollow out his insides.  
Ringo had held his face in both hands last night, pressing their lips together, effectively silencing Easy and connecting them in a way there was no turning back from. At least not for Easy. He sits up in his bed a little, placing his hand down on the space next to him, running a hand over the rumpled sheet.  
The spot where Ringo had laid himself out for him, mouth falling open on a gasp as Easy kissed down his chest.

Easy had gone past anything rational, letting all thoughts of how this was a disastrous idea go and instead greedily took everything Ringo would give him.  
And Ringo had done the same, hovering over Easy, drinking in every reaction he could pull out of him, drowning himself in every sharp intake of breath and every hiss of Ringo’s name.  
Easy stares at his bedroom door long enough that he can almost imagine Ringo walking through it, last night’s shirt thrown on in a hurry and two mugs of coffee in his hands.  
Ringo would tut at him, teasing him about his baseless insecurities, sliding his lips in between Easy’s in a kiss so romantic Easy would wonder when Ringo had gotten so soft. And whether that was his doing.

Yet none of that happens, and Easy wants to blame himself, can already hear Tobias calling him stupid for hooking up with his half-brother in the first place.  
But Easy can feel that after the man he has spent the most fervent, senseous night with has left without saying a word, he doesn’t want to be angry at himself.  
He doesn’t even really want to take it back. He wants it again, over and over, and the fact that Ringo doesn’t want the same is what hurts.

When he does eventually open his bedroom door Easy is immediately faced with Tobias at the dinner table. Easy is about to tell Tobias that he doesn’t want to talk about it, but then remembers that Tobias doesn’t know in the first place.  
 _That’s probably why he was already gone, he doesn’t want anyone to know about your little indiscretion._ As Easy’s making himself breakfast, Tobias interrupts his thoughts.  
“What time are you going to be at Schiller?” Easy turns around, a frown on his face. Tobias looks at him expectantly, but when Easy stays quiet, “we have to put up the decorations for the afterparty of Paco and Elli’s wedding remember?”  
Easy closes his eyes and sighs, “right. I’ll go over there after I’ve had breakfast and a shower.”

He spends the next two hours with a glue gun in his hand, not really focussing on what he’s doing but _knowing_ in his gut that Ringo had said he would help out as well, and he’s not here.

The first time they see each other again after their night together is in church, at the wedding. Easy is already sat next to Tobias when Ringo walks in, heads turning as he walks over to Bambi and Sina and sits behind them.  
Easy looks at him for a while, because he can’t not. He can’t find the red rimmed eyes or the nervously shaking hands on Ringo he’s secretly looking for, and Ringo doesn’t return his gaze once during the entire ceremony.

By the time they’re all in Schiller, Easy realises he doesn’t have to try to avoid Ringo because he’s already doing all of the work.  
He keeps his eyes on Paco who speeches, Paco’s gaze moving back to Elli every few seconds. There’s so much love in those looks that Easy starts to doubt if he ever saw that in Ringo’s eyes last night.  
When everyone stands up and music floods the room, Easy’s phone buzzes. _’I’ll be on the rooftop if you want to yell at me. R.’_  
Easy rolls his eyes at his screen and shoves the thing back in his pocket, walking over to the bar and downing a champagne glass in one go.

He’s been staring at Elli’s parents awkwardly trying to dance to upbeat music for three minutes when he gives in.   
The cool crisp air of the night hits him as Easy pushes the door to the roof open. Ringo is leaning against the wall, his back to the city, facing the door.  
Easy stands still whilst there’s still a few metres distance between himself and Ringo, and a few moments pass where neither of them say anything.  
“You can start yelling whenever you want,” Ringo says, “but the people on the streets will probably hear you.”  
There’s something in Ringo’s entire demeanor that makes Easy feel like Ringo’s taking this much lighter than he is, and it stings.  
“Don’t try to be cute.” Easy bites. The modest smile on Ringo’s face is immediately gone.

“Why did you leave?” Easy hates that he can’t keep the hurt out of his voice.  
Ringo presses his lips together for a moment. “I freaked out.”  
Easy chokes out a humourless laugh. “And you think I wasn’t freaked out when I woke up alone this morning?”  
“Look, I,” Ringo pauses to take a breath, “I had planned to go out to get breakfast and then I was going to come back. But I got scared.”  
Easy holds a hand over his eyes, shaking his head and then looking back at Ringo.

“I know it sounds stupid but I never make breakfast when I spend a night with someone, and I _wanted_ to with you, and then it became a lot bigger in my head.” Ringo says quietly, eyes boring into Easy’s, desperately trying to make him understand.  
“We could’ve talked about this!”, Easy raises his voice, “you avoided me _all day_! Do you know how immature that is?”  
Ringo flexes his fingers and then squeezes his hands, eyes moving from the floor to Easy and back again.   
“I know. But you deserve a lot better than me, and I knew I was just going to mess up things at some point anyway.”   
“No.”, Easy immediately fires back, pointing a finger at Ringo, “you do _not_ get to use that excuse.” Ringo opens his mouth and closes it again.

Easy takes a step forward, hand stretched over his mouth as he mulls over what Ringo just told him.  
“Because you did mess up, you left.”, Easy says, voice cracking at those two last words.   
Ringo visibly swallows as he sees Easy get emotional. “I-I’m not good at this. Obviously. I know I’m not good at communicating, especially in relationships.”  
Easy smiles bitterly. “Right. And you’d rather not give it a chance at all, than try to work through it with me.”  
Ringo’s looking down at his hands, voice timid when he speaks. “I actually didn’t think you’d want more than just one night with me.”

“What?” Easy’s eyes widen. “I promise I’m not saying this to get in your good books, but it was only when I saw you looking pissed off at me in church that I realised you wanted me to stay.”  
“After the night we had?” Easy blurts out before he has a chance to think about it.  
Ringo’s gaze turns darker, and Easy can feel that familiar heat start to pull at him. “So you did enjoy it?”  
Easy snickers under his breath, shaking his head at Ringo. He does it so easy, the little quips back and forth, and it’s sexier than Easy would like to admit.  
“You know I did. And I thought you did too, until I saw you didn’t stick around.”

Ringo pushes away from the wall and comes to stand in front of Easy. “I wouldn’t mind enjoying myself again.”  
Easy is about to start talking about everything that complicates this situation when Ringo continues. “And anything else you’re prepared to give me.”  
Easy sighs, but there’s a smile playing around his lips.  
“I know I still have a lot to learn, and I can’t promise you I won’t fuck up because I probably will.” Ringo says.  
Easy laughs. “Wow, you’re really selling yourself.”  
Ringo laughs too, open-mouthed and airy. “I thought I sold myself pretty well last night.”

Easy lightly smacks Ringo’s arm, and then holds his hand there, tugs on it to bring Ringo forward, their foreheads pressed together.  
“I’ll talk to you about things in the future.”  
Easy nods, Ringo laughing lightly at the feeling of Easy’s head rubbing against his own.  
Easy’s fingers twist in the collar of Ringo’s shirt as he brings their mouths together.  
“I think we’ve talked enough for tonight.”


	41. 162: “Make me.”

Ringo and Easy had always circled around each other. They seemed to spend more time hating one another than actually getting along, but somehow they cared enough to an extent that made it impossible to just completely ignore each other.  
And then Easy came out, and with it followed Ringo dropping by on quiet evenings, the two of them talking on Easy’s couch, finding familiarity in the person they thought was the furthest away from themselves.  
Then Easy started dating guys, and the ocassional fights with Ringo returned - _“I don’t understand why he’s not texting back, it’s been a week since we saw each other.” “Maybe he got bored with you Easy, it’s more common than you think.”_ It’s like Ringo couldn’t help himself.  
But when Tobias gets dumped by a girl who then ups and leaves, they pull together to take care of him.

It’s a hot summer evening, Easy sprawled out on his couch and a fan blowing in his face. The door promptly opens, revealing a red faced Ringo who is taking off his shirt as he walks in, closing the door behind him.  
Easy sits up slightly, brows creased and eyes moving over Ringo’s torso. “Can I hang here?” Ringo asks, out of breath and not alert enough to notice that Easy’s not focused on his face right now.  
“Uh, yeah.” Easy shakes his head a little, willing himself to look Ringo in the face. Ringo tosses his shirt on a chair and walks over to the couch and lets himself fall on it.

“Why exactly can you not do this in your own room?” Easy asks after watching Ringo just _sit_ for a few seconds.  
Ringo squeezes his eyes closed and draws a hand over his face, sighing dramatically. “Do you have to pester me with questions?”  
Easy rolls his eyes. “I am being nice and letting you stay in the coolest room in the building, you know.”  
“Should I be honored?” Ringo asks, unmoving.   
Easy blindly smacks a hand on Ringo’s stomach. “Leave.”

There’s a small huff of amusement from next to him, and then Ringo speaks. “My fan broke.”  
Easy snorts. “Right.”  
Ringo’s eyes fly open, his head turning to look at Easy whose eyes are still closed. “You don’t believe me? You think I _want_ to be here?”  
“Oh don’t act all high and mighty, please.” Easy says, tone unamused. It hits him how having Ringo around always feels like a buzz under his skin, but it keeps switching from an itch to a pleasant tingle and back again.

“I have every right to.”, Ringo comments, still looking at Easy, “I’m the most handsome man who’s been in this apartment for the past six months.”  
Easy can feel a small smile tugging around his mouth, and realises a second later he probably should’ve laughed a little harder at the ridiculousness of that comment.  
“You underestimate how much I stay indoors.” Easy says, and he hears Ringo genuinely laugh.  
“I’ll give you that one, but only because you date idiots.” Ringo says. Easy feels like they shouldn’t be talking about this, not like this. It’s less teasing and more honest.

“It’s not my fault that men are idiots.” Easy says, opening his eyes for a moment and then closing them again, the warmth in the air making everything feel hazy.  
“I don’t know how you’ve been doing it.” He adds.   
“I haven’t.” Ringo sounds a little more quiet than before.  
“Right,” Easy says, “because you’re too cool for dating.”  
“No,” Ringo says, and Easy picks up on the sharpness back in Ringo’s tone, “I just don’t like the hassle of feelings.”

A small laugh escapes Easy. “What?” Ringo asks, annoyed.  
“You really think you’re ‘cool’ for not being able to emotionally commit.” Easy says, looking back at Ringo. “It’s not. It’s immature.”  
“How far has involving emotions brought you, hmm? If there’s a list of succesful relationships you’re hiding somewhere, I’d love to see it.” Ringo bites.  
Easy looks at Ringo, _really_ looks at Ringo and sees how he’s _genuinely_ irritated, and maybe even a bit hurt.  
“At least I’m able to talk about how I feel,” Easy snipes, “anytime I try to ask you how you feel you _have_ to change the subject!”  
Ringo looks like he’s about to explode and for two seconds he says nothing, and then, “Shut up.”  
Easy rolls his eyes at him. “Oh make me.”

There’s a warm hand on the side of Easy’s face, turning his head towards Ringo, and then Ringo is kissing him.  
Ringo’s lips are a lot softer than Easy expected, and he can feel how Ringo is kissing him with everything he has and it’s toe-curling.  
Ringo pulls back for a second, looks at Easy and sees how he’s as out of it as himself, and then reconnects their lips.  
He moves a knee next to Easy, lowering Easy onto his back and moving himself on top of him.

Easy tilts his head up to fully kiss Ringo, an arm hooking around his shoulder.  
Ringo feels Easy’s mouth open under his, and when he finds Easy’s tongue with his own he groans at the sensation.  
There’s a light push at Ringo’s shoulder, so Ringo pulls back, dropping kisses on Easy’s cheek and jaw, lightly brushing his own face against it and feeling his skin tingle from Easy’s beard.  
Easy’s breathing hard, and there’s small noises coming out of his mouth but he’s not really saying anything yet, so Ringo moves his mouth over Easy’s neck.  
“Wh-”, Easy takes a deep breath and tries again, “What are you doing?”

Ringo moves back up so he can look at Easy. “This is called making out.” He deadpans.  
Easy doesn’t get annoyed but there’s some definite concern in his face, and Ringo doesn’t want to do this if Easy doesn’t want to.  
“But-” Easy starts, but Ringo interrupts, “Listen. Forget about whatever you were thinking. Do you want to kiss me?”  
A light flush spreads on Easy’s face as he bites his lip in thought. Ringo lowers his face near Easy’s and brushes his lips over his.  
Easy’s eyes fall closed as he nods.  
“Then kiss me.” Ringo whispers, and Easy’s already there.

And if they spent a warm, humid afternoon together lazily kissing on Easy’s couch, no one had to know.


	42. "Ringo and Easy spend the night together for the first time after their reunion."

“I want you. Now.”  
Easy grins at the text. Warmth spreads in his chest, knowing that Ringo is thinking about him right now. It feels more like the flirty, teasing Ringo from before they broke up.  
He can still feel the firm grip of Ringo’s hand in his own, the two of them on the cold hard floor of the kiosk, every part of Ringo’s body touching his own as if he needed the constant confirmation Easy was still there.  
They’re working their way back to each other, but Easy doesn’t want Ringo to trip over his own insecurities.

It takes one look to the side and Tobias is already ushering Easy out. He makes Tobias promise to call him if anything happens but he’s giddy with anticipation as soon as he shuts the door behind him.  
The living room of the flatshare is empty, and Easy quickly makes his way up the stairs. Before he has a chance to knock, the door opens and Ringo pulls Easy inside.  
The door clicks shut and Easy’s back falls against it. Ringo’s hands are on either side of his head, and his face hovers centimeters from his own.  
Ringo’s eyes are focused on Easy’s lips, and when they come up to stare back at Easy’s, a slow grin spreads on Ringo’s face.

“Hey.” Ringo whispers softly before covering Easy’s mouth with his own. It’s a slow, open-mouthed kiss that makes Easy feel lightheaded.   
He kisses Easy like they have all the time in the world, and they do. Easy blindly puts his hand forward, grabbing the fabric of Ringo’s T-shirt and pulling him closer.  
He keeps his hands there, gliding over Ringo’s chest until they stop at his shoulders. Easy softly bites Ringo’s lip, and Ringo’s eyes open.   
There’s so much heat and lust in Ringo’s gaze that it makes Easy breathless. He grabs Ringo’s hands and walks backwards to Ringo’s bed.

Easy lies down, pulling Ringo on top of him. Ringo plants his elbows on either side of Easy, pressing a kiss to Easy’s forehead.  
He can feel Ringo’s legs in between his own, their hips and chests pressed together. A kiss falls on his cheek, then his lips, and then his jaw, Ringo tucking his head underneath Easy’s to mouth at his neck.  
Every touch feels more intense than before, and Easy shudders on a soft content sigh. He moves his arms over Ringo’s back, hugging Ringo and holding him.  
Ringo hikes up Easy’s bordeaux sweater. “Off.” He mumbles into Easy’s neck, who laughs. The sweater comes off and lands on the floor beside the bed.

Easy looks up at Ringo, eyes fond and soft. He’s wearing a white T-shirt and grey sweatpants. Easy has seen him in plenty of dress shirts and suits, but he looks the sexiest like this.  
Maybe he should say that.   
“You’re so sexy.” Easy says, eyes moving over Ringo’s face, taking everything in. Ringo licks his lips and grins. “Thanks. So are you.”  
Ringo lowers his head, kissing at Easy’s mouth. He can feel the hot slide of Ringo’s tongue, angling his head to deepen the kiss.  
Easy hooks an arm around Ringo’s neck, a moan escaping his mouth. He can feel his own hardness brushing against Ringo’s, and Ringo’s breath stutters in his mouth.

His hands are on their way to settle at Ringo’s hips, holding him closer and chasing the friction they both need, when Ringo sits up.  
Easy feels like he has to shake out of a haze, leaning up on his elbows and looking at Ringo.  
He wants to ask what’s going on, but he can see it play on Ringo’s face. He’s breathing harshly, eyes blown wide and his hands are nervously rubbing over his thighs.  
“Ringo, I’m here.” Easy sits up a little further, tucking his feet under himself and placing a tentative hand on Ringo’s arm.  
“I’m still going to be here tomorrow, regardless of what happens tonight.”

Ringo looks back at him, holds on, and Easy can see him physically let go. A calmness settles over him, and he thinks for a moment.  
“Do you want me?” Ringo looks like he’s dead-serious, and Easy feels this is not the moment for jokes.  
He nods. “I do.”  
Ringo moves, stills himself and then moves again, slowly crawling over Easy as they both lie down again.   
Easy holds both hands to Ringo’s face as they kiss, feeling Ringo smile after a moment. “I love you.” Easy whispers in between kisses, and eagerly Ringo kisses him back.

Ringo kisses down Easy’s chest, hands on his jeans with a questioning look. Easy nods, unbuttoning his jeans and letting Ringo take them off.   
A moment later they’re both down to their boxers, and when Ringo lays himself on top of Easy again, the intensity of touching each other everywhere hits them both.  
Ringo pushes his hips into Easy’s, and Easy surges up to kiss Ringo, desperation laced within.   
They keep moving together, the intimacy and intensity on a level that makes it feel like a fresh start.   
Easy’s back arches off the bed as he climaxes, and Ringo watches his eyes roll back as he tips over the edge as well.

Ringo rolls onto his back, chest rising and falling quickly as he lays next to Easy. He feels Easy’s fingers slide in between his own, and he smiles to himself.  
“You okay?” Easy asks, and Ringo nods, squeezing their hands together.  
“I am. I just-” Ringo says. He rolls onto his side, Easy looking at him with questioning eyes.  
“I just really love you.” Ringo says, as if it’s the only thing he could say.


	43. "Maybe it's better if we break up."

“Maybe it’s better if we break up.”  
Ringo sighs, clenching his jaw and wanting to be angry but he’s more tired than anything.  
“You don’t mean that.”   
Easy stays quiet, waits for Ringo’s eyes to find his own.  
Something in Ringo’s face breaks, and he knows it does because he can see it reflected in Easy.   
“You’re serious.” Ringo says quietly, his tone defeated.

Easy sits down on the side of the couch, looking at Ringo who’s sitting on the steps of the spiral staircase, hands tightly pressed together and one leg nervously bouncing up and down.  
“You can’t tell me that this,” Easy gestures to the space between himself and Ringo, “is healthy.”

Ringo pushes his tongue against the back of his teeth. “So that means we should just give up?”  
“Ringo I am _tired_ of fighting,” Easy says, and Ringo hates how it feels like he’s already on his own, like any form of willingness to work for this has to come from himself.  
“I’m not the one making a fuss,” Ringo says and as soon as it leaves his mouth he can feel Easy latching on to the snide in his voice.

“I’m making a fuss, am I?” Easy says loudly, “Ringo I don’t know how to explain to you that you shouldn’t be okay with your boss telling you you can’t be who you are!”  
“It’s not that big of a deal! I don’t go around the office announcing I have a boyfriend, do I?” Ringo yells back.

Easy presses his lips together for a moment, looking at the ground and then looking up at Ringo.  
“Why are you so willing to hide me?”  
“I don’t-”, Ringo starts but he stops himself. Easy sits in front of him, shoulders slumped and if Ringo came home and had found him like this he would’ve taken Easy in his arms and asked him who had upset him.  
But there’s no one else to blame.

“Easy…” Ringo begins again, despite not knowing what the right words are. Easy sniffles quietly, tears now in his eyes.  
“I love you.” Ringo says without thinking, like it’s been pulled out of him. “More than anything.”  
Easy shakes his head. “I know you think I’m too focussed on my career, and that I value work too much and that I let Huber get away with too many things,” Ringo says, and he comes off the stairs to step to Easy, hands on Easy’s arms, a hand under his chin to lift his head, needing him to hear his words, “but when it comes down to it, you come before anything else.”

He brushes a thumb under Easy’s eye to wipe away a tear, and he’s about to say something when Easy throws his arms around Ringo’s neck, surging up and kissing him.  
He can feel the desperation and heartache in Easy’s kiss, and it once again occurs to him that Easy is more afraid of losing him than he is angry at him.  
Ringo puts his hands on Easy’s shoulders after a moment, gently nudging him back, and Easy rushes forward, pushing his face into Ringo’s neck, arms squeezed around Ringo’s waist.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Ringo whispers, embracing Easy with both arms and rubbing his back.   
They stand like that for a few moments, until Easy takes a step back, inhaling a shuddering breath.  
“I’m probably always going to be willing to go further than you would with this kind of stuff,” Ringo pauses, grabbing Easy’s hand and holding it in his own, “but nothing is worth losing you over.”

Easy smiles faintly at him, and Ringo wants to just hold him for a while.   
“You really are the most important thing to me, you know.” Ringo says, and Easy rolls his eyes with a half smile. “Okay okay, you’re forgiven, you can stop now.”  
“I’m not kidding,” Ringo says, face serious. Easy looks up at him with a soft, fond look in his eyes, and Ringo runs his fingers through Easy’s hair.

“You’re just…” He trails off, not even really knowing how to explain to Easy that he has never loved anyone the way he loves him. How Easy is his favourite person in the whole world.  
How he’s the first thing Ringo looks for in a room. How he can feel stressed and tired and alone in a room full of their friends but when Easy looks at him and smiles he knows everything will be okay.

Ringo rests his hand against the back of Easy’s head, enjoying the feeling of being close.  
“You’re everything.”


	44. 168: “You’re in trouble now.”

Easy has already been on his feet for thirteen hours when he finally has a chance to sit down.   
He starts making his way through the wedding crowd, shouldering past groups of people jumping up and down to some cliché song with a sort of decent rhythm to it.  
It’s way too warm, everyone is sweating and by the time he reaches the other side of the room he knows there’s beer on his suit _somewhere_.  
The bar is next to empty, people only occasionally dropping by for a drink and getting dragged back to the dance floor with a glass in hand.

It’s the type of wedding Easy would never want to have himself but he ends up attending quite a few by getting hired as the photographer. The couple rented out a big ballroom in a hotel for the party,   
and there’s a giant chandelier hanging from the ceiling which looks just the right side of cheap, and as Easy looks over the crowd he knows the bride and groom can’t possibly know _every single person_ here.

He hops onto a stool and drops both arms on the bar, laying his head down and groaning.   
“You’re in trouble now.” He hears. Easy lifts his head to see one of the bartenders in front of him, dressed in a crisp white dress shirt and black blazer, who is currently drying off glasses whilst looking at Easy with a smirk.  
He’s handsome, strong jawline and cheekbones, and an air of flirtation around him. _Of course he’s a fucking bartender_.

“Why?” Easy asks.   
The guy shrugs. “You’ve been running around all day. If you start throwing back drinks now, it’ll be a hell of a headache tomorrow.”  
Easy narrows his eyes, an amused smile playing aroud his lips. They’re far away enough from the festivities to hear each other, but the music still feels like an attack to Easy’s skull.  
“Do you always have to consolidate the wedding photographers at the end of the evening?”

The guy grins at that, teeth showing, a twinkle in his eye that makes Easy feel like they’re playing this little game now, just the two of them.  
“Let’s just say that if you need help getting into a taxi tonight, I have enough experience to assist.”  
Easy laughs, biting his lip as he looks at the bartender. “Can I get you anything?” The guy asks. He’s setting aside the glasses and reaches a hand behind him every now and then when he needs something from the back.  
Every move is fluid and familiar enough that Easy knows he’s been doing this for a while.  
“Sure.” Easy says, and the guy stares at him with an expectant smile, but Easy just shrugs. “What? You’re the bartender.”

The bartender presses his lips together. “Fair enough.”  
He grabs a cocktail glass and starts squeezing out a lime wedge. “I’m Ringo, by the way.”  
“Like the musician?”  
“Like my actual name is Richard, but I somehow got stuck with Ringo.”  
He looks up for a moment, just stares at Easy’s face as if he’s checking for something and then he smiles, running the lime wedge over the rim of the glass and then pressing it into a bowl of sugar.  
“My name’s Easy.” Ringo grabs a bottle and pours a shot, emptying the shot glass into the cocktail glass and setting it aside.   
He makes a point of meeting Easy’s eyes, smiling when he says, “nice to meet you.”

Easy sees him fill up the rest of the glass with tonic and a singular raspberry put on top.   
“There you go.” Ringo puts the glass in front of Easy. Easy looks at the drink and then back at Ringo.   
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a drink this pink.”  
“You mean, you’ve never had a drink this good.” Ringo winks at him, patting Easy’s arm. “Try it.” And then he walks off to the group of guys at the other side of the bar, grabbing four beer glasses at once and holding the tap in his hand.  
Easy takes a sip of his cocktail, sweetness but also something sour and sharp hitting his tongue. It’s a decent amount of alcohol, enough for it to make the drink feel slightly heavy, but it’s still tasty.

His eyes look for Ringo, who looks back at him with a smile and raised eyebrows, mouthing “good?”. Easy raises his drink at him, and takes another sip.  
He has nearly finished it when Ringo walks back to him. “What’s this called?” Easy asks, finger pointing to his near empty glass.  
“No idea, I just threw some things together I thought you might like.” Ringo says, and he tugs at his buttoned up collar. He must be boiling in that suit, walking around with drinks and the bright lights pointed at the bar in his face.

“You must be dying to get out of that suit.” Easy says, throwing back the remainder of his drink, and when he looks at Ringo he has one eyebrow tilted up and an amused smirk on his face.  
“No, no! I meant-” Easy starts but Ringo interrupts him, putting a hand on Easy’s.  
“I am,” Ringo nods, looking at his watch and then around the room, “and I think I’ll be able to in about fifteen minutes.”  
He lowers his gaze, eyes focused on Easy’s mouth.  
“I could use some help though.”

Easy blinks, trailing his eyes over Ringo’s lips, his neck. For a moment Ringo looks worried, like he might have overstepped, but then, “meet me in the wardrobe in five.”  
His heart is racing as he closes the door behind him, and Easy is halfway through a mental list of why he definitely shouldn’t have done that, planning on spending the next five minutes worrying and bailing in the end, but there’s a hand on his shoulder before he has a chance.

“I really can just call a taxi, if you-” Easy cuts Ringo off, quickly turning around and kissing him.  
Ringo’s back falls against the wardrobe door, a muffled sound coming out of his mouth before he moves his arms around Easy’s waist and kisses him back.  
Easy reaches up and throws his arms around Ringo’s neck, pulling him in closer, tasting him.  
After a moment, Easy pulls back.  
“Still wanna help me get home?”


	45. 55: “Shut up and kiss me already.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An ode to vintage Ringsy and their undeniable sexual tension :)

“I will end you, you hear me?” Easy’s fingers twist tightly in the material of Ringo’s shirt, shoving him harshly against the wood.  
The door handle is digging into Ringo’s back and Easy has his knee in between Ringo’s legs, effectively trapping him to the door.  
Ringo raises both his hands in defense. “I haven’t done anything.” Easy gives him another push, his face centimeters away from Ringo’s.  
“Suji’s gone. This is all your fault.”

A flare of anger hits Ringo. “It’s my fault is it? You won’t get charged with creditcard fraud thanks to me,” Ringo clenches his jaw, “plus I could have reported you for assault, but I didn’t.”  
“Yeah, because Suji had to pay for that!” Easy shouts. One corner of Ringo’s mouth quirks up. “That’s on you, not me.”

He can see Easy get angrier in front of his eyes, and it gives him too much joy to stop. Ringo had never meant for any of it to get this far, but he was relatively satisfied with the way things were now.  
“You should’ve stayed away from Suji.” Easy spits, and Ringo toys momentarily with the thought of telling Easy to just calm down, it’s not all that serious.  
Because poor Easy had cared more about Suji than Ringo ever did, and Ringo knew that. Sure, he started having feelings somewhere along the line, but the whole thing was too much trouble to be worth it.

The only thing that mattered to Ringo was that Easy didn’t have the thing he wanted, and he had bended over backwards to make that happen.  
Kira had been less than amused to get dragged into all of it - _“Why do you even care in the first place, just let them be Ringo.”_

Easy had been a permanent fixture in both Ringo’s life and his thoughts, particularly in the past couple of weeks.  
And as he’s standing in front of him now, staring Ringo down like his threats actually mean something, nostrils flared in anger, Ringo doesn’t want this game to stop.  
It’s like they bounce off of each other in the worst way, and Ringo can’t get enough. And whether it’s consciously or not, Easy takes the bait each time.

“I couldn’t stay away,” Ringo says, hearing the smugness in his own voice, “she came to me once she realised you could never satisfy her.”  
For a second Easy looks so bewildered he doesn’t know what to say, but then his eyebrows shoot up as he splutters over his words.  
“Oh, and you set that straight did you?”

“Mm.” Ringo closes his eyes for a moment, as if he’s reminiscing of the sensual passionate night in question, recalling how she felt to kiss, and touch.  
When he opens his eyes again, Easy is staring at his face, following his expression with interest. The bitterness from before is less sharp now.  
Ringo makes sure he looks Easy right in the eye, his voice low, “I knew just how to give it to her.”  
He can see Easy pushing his teeth together, eyes flickering over Ringo’s lips before looking at the ground. Easy takes his hands off of Ringo and lets his arms fall by his side.

Ringo places a hand on Easy’s shoulder. “Hey, you don’t have to feel bad. Not everyone can be as good in bed as I am,” Ringo says with fluttering lashes, wide eyes and a mocking tone.  
Easy’s head lifts, and he rolls his eyes at Ringo, which is a surprisingly lax response.  
“Why do you care? Why can’t just leave me alone?” Easy shakes his head at Ringo, mouth a thin line.  
“What, are you actually telling me you don’t secretly enjoy this as well?” Ringo says, pressing his lips together when he lets those last two words slip, and he can see Easy latching on immediately.

“You enjoy doing this? Torturing me and others around you?” Easy raises his voice, disbelief in his face as he looks at Ringo in a whole new light. He’s pulling away but Ringo won’t let him.  
“Are you saying you don’t?,” Ringo matches Easy’s volume, “face it Easy, you need me, you need this!”  
“You can drop dead for all I care!” Easy shouts, slamming his flat hand against the wood next to Ringo’s head.  
His hand stays there, and they’re closer than they were before. Ringo doesn’t hear anything except for the whizzing of his heartbeat in his ears and Easy’s harsh breathing.  
Ringo looks down at Easy’s mouth and sees him do the same a second later.

“Shut up and kiss me already.” Ringo says, and he’s already moving towards him when Easy meets him in the middle.  
It’s desperate and aching from the start, Ringo’s hand holding the side of Easy’s face and Easy’s hands climbing from Ringo’s chest to his shoulders until they settle around his neck.  
Easy kisses him as furiously as he argues, and it sets Ringo’s blood alight. He wraps one arm around Easy’s back, tugging him closer and angling his head to slip his tongue into Easy’s mouth.

Easy breaks away a second later, panting, eyes opening and head falling back just as Ringo moves his mouth over Easy’s neck.  
“Wh-”, Easy gasps, “what are we doing?”  
Ringo blindly reaches a hand behind him and pushes the door handle down, pulling Easy with him.  
“You can hate me again later, just stop thinking for now.”


	46. "Ringo discovers that Spohn is trying to seduce Easy."

“I want a night with your boyfriend.”  
Ringo hasn’t unclenched his jaw since Spohn spoke those words, and even as he makes his way back home he keeps seeing flashes of his smug face.   
He said it like he was already sure he was going to get it, and the thought of Easy with Spohn makes Ringo’s skin crawl. If Easy wanted to see more jealousy from Ringo, that would not be a problem now.

It’s like there’s an itch under his skin, and Ringo feels jumpy and overstimulated, standing still in front of Easy’s door but not yet going in.  
The image of Spohn making a move on Easy is not leaving his mind and Ringo can feel himself getting more worked up the more he thinks about it.  
When he left that meeting all he wanted was to go home, take Easy in his arms and not think about work for at least ten consecutive hours, but the whirring in his head hasn’t stopped.  
And he knows why.

Ringo believes, with every fibre of his being, that Easy loves him. Easy tells him often enough and there are even moments where Ringo allows himself to believe he can see it in his face, his eyes.

The late nights where there’s nothing to hear except for the ticking of Ringo’s fingers on his laptop, and he’s so focused that he doesn’t notice anything until there’s two warm loving arms around him, a kiss pressed to the side of his neck as Easy nuzzles closer.  
The early mornings when Easy is awake before Ringo is for once, and he makes a move to get up but Ringo’s arms tighten around him, and Ringo half-opens one eye to see Easy grinning at him, Ringo letting his eyes fall shut as he cuddles Easy to him, mumbling something about how it’s still early and Ringo won’t see Easy the entire day.

But Ringo quickly zooms in on the fact that even though Spohn hitting on Easy is far from an ideal situation, the thought that Easy might not mind it all that much is a much scarier prospect.

And then the doubt settles in, and Ringo lets his back fall against the wall of Easy’s hallway, feeling everything topple over each other as he starts thinking about all of the things Spohn has that Easy might like.  
Ringo doesn’t find Spohn all that attractive, but maybe Easy does? Spohn probably has a better career than he does, and Ringo feels like he’s losing control over his work life as it is.  
Spohn probably doesn’t blurt out stupid things that will eventually evolve into a petty fight over nothing, is probably a lot better at dealing with emotions, both his own and others, than Ringo.   
What if Easy swoons at the sight of Spohn’s car? What if Spohn has more mutual interests with Easy than Ringo does? What if-

“Are you ever going to come in or were you planning on spending the night out here?” Easy pokes his head out the door, but the teasing expression drops when Ringo looks back at him with glassy eyes.  
“Hey,” Easy steps out into the hallway, grabbing Ringo’s hand, “what’s going on?”  
Ringo’s frowning, avoiding Easy’s eyes at all costs but he has to say something about this or it will keeps bouncing around in his head.  
“Why would you pick me over Spohn?” It feels strange and gross coming out of his mouth, as if even saying the possibility out loud might create some alternate timeline where Easy does leave Ringo for Spohn, and Ringo doesn’t want to risk it.

Easy’s eyes do that softening thing they always do when they talk about their feelings, and he leans against the wall opposite of Ringo.   
“Why would you ask me that?” Easy says, curiously. Ringo shrugs, knowing full well feigning any type of nonchalance is useless and unhelpful.  
He doesn’t want to tell Easy what Spohn has asked of him, he doesn’t want Easy asking him if he considered agreeing and he definitely does not want to ask Easy if he would consider it.

“We both know he’s into you,” Ringo says, his tone flat as if there wouldn’t be any reason why Easy _wouldn’t_ want Spohn, “he probably has…” Ringo trails off, Easy looking at him expectantly and Ringo blows out a long stream of air before continuing, “… a lot more to offer.”

“Richard Beckmann,” Easy says with a firm and confident tone, “what are you talking about?”  
“No, no,” Ringo shakes his head, pressing his lips together for a second, “you don’t have to do all that.”  
Easy raises his eyebrows at him. “Do what?”  
“The whole,” Ringo waves his hands around, “listing all of the things you like about me.”  
Easy’s face twists into something friendly and sympathetic which Ringo sees any time he bares his soul, “Ringo,” Easy says but Ringo cuts him off.  
“I know I’m punching above my weight with you.” He says sharply.

Neither of them say anything for a while and Ringo starts to worry that he might have upset Easy, when Easy’s suddenly standing right in front of him, slowly leaning in closer and pressing his lips to Ringo’s cheek, lingering for a moment before pulling back.  
Easy brushes a strand of hair away from Ringo’s forehead and brings his hand to the side of Ringo’s face. 

“You have such a soft heart.” Everything about Easy’s expression is genuine and open, and Ringo doesn’t know what he did to deserve someone who is able to always see the good in him.  
“Don’t tell anyone.” Ringo says, joking half-heartedly, and Easy gives him a small smile, knowing that Ringo still feels a little ill at ease with these moments.  
“I won’t,” Easy promises him with a smile, and he takes both of Ringo’s hands in his own as he looks Ringo in the eye.

“I love you, for who you are. I love your heart, and your mind. And yes, those things also cause mistakes, but that’s how humans are.” Easy says, like it’s simple.   
And maybe it is. “And you,” Easy leans in and softly kisses Ringo, “are a magnificent human.”  
Ringo laughs a little at that, and then Easy does too, and it feels like the air is a little clearer, as if Ringo’s chest expands and allows him to breathe again.  
“Thank you.” Ringo says sincerely, and Easy nods at him.   
“He could never be you. And I only want you.” Easy says, and Ringo can see it again, in how Easy’s smile seems to light up and his eyes are all bright and happy.  
And he believes it, too.


	47. "What is going on inside Ringo's head while going through with the deal with Spohn?"

“What are you doing?” Paco questions from behind him, but Ringo doesn’t look at him, just continues to step around his room, shoving T-Shirts and underwear into the open bag on his bed.  
“Going away.” Ringo says eventually, counting the items of clothing he’s packed so far. “Why?”  
He throws two powerbanks on top and zips the bag shut, knowing it will be sufficient for a good few days. Ringo turns around, bag in hand, “because I don’t want to be here for a while.”  
He passes Paco by as he makes his way down the stairs, patting his jeans once he’s on the floor, checking for his phone and his keys.

“What about your job?” Paco says as he follows Ringo. Ringo stands still for a moment, sighing as he looks at Paco.   
“I’ve left Huber an e-mail that I’ve taken a week off and that he has to deal with that,” Paco’s eyes widen at Ringo’s words and Ringo gives him a look, “I know, I know, I’m pretty much fired. I’m past the point of caring. See ya.”  
Ringo pats Paco’s shoulder as he passes him by. He makes one stop at the Turnhalle, changes into his workout clothes and he’s on his way, headphones in and he runs until he can’t feel or think about anything except for his feet hitting the ground and the road in front of him.

Easy hasn’t allowed himself to fully break yet. He’s broken up with Ringo, for the second time, and there’s something that comes with having to end a relationship you’ve already ended once before, a sort of finality that maybe you should accept once and for all that it’s for the best to not be together.  
He could feel it immediately, thoughts of ‘there’s no going back this time’ swirling in his head the moment Ringo walked out the door, leaving Easy standing in his kitchen with Ringo’s heart in Easy’s hand and every memory they share shattered to pieces on the floor.

So Easy had done what he thought would help the most: distract himself. He had texted his employee that if she fancied a week off, he’d be more than willing to fill in for her, the girl was delighted with her free time and Easy with having no free time at all.  
But not every day was super busy, and he couldn’t get more photography jobs on the spot so there were gaps to fill, and Easy was quickly confronted with the fact that it wasn’t enough. He hadn’t realised how much Ringo brought to his life until it wasn’t there anymore, and everything just felt empty and meaningless.

And then the distraction method starts to have an opposite effect. Every customer gets on Easy’s nerves and when his friends drag him out to Schiller for a beer he snaps at them, sitting amongst them but staying quiet until he can’t take it anymore and leaves.  
He’s in his room when his eyes fall on the dishevelled tent, sort of shoved back into its bag and thrown into a corner, and in a split second he makes up his mind, packs a bag and the tent, leaves a short note for Tobias on the table and takes off.

He decides to go to the woods a little bit closer to home, and it’s perfect really, because Easy’s close enough to home that he can easily go back, but enough removed from his life that it gives him some space to breathe.  
Easy sets up the tent first, knowing how because he’s done it before, and once it stands he sits in the opening, looking up at the tops of the trees and the patches of sky that run through it.

He grabs his bag and opens it, immediately realising he didn’t pack any food, and he can hear Ringo’s teasing voice, _What are you gonna do now, ey? Should’ve thought about your options, Snow White._  
It’s painful, and Easy’s eyes sting with tears as he sits there and just feels so _stupid_ , like he can’t do anything without Ringo.   
A quick trip to the nearest supermarket shouldn’t be too difficult, Easy decides, and he gets inside the tent with his bag and zips it shut, laying down and closing his eyes.

By the time Ringo gets to the forest he’s warmed up and slightly out of breath, but he carries on into the forest nonetheless, determined to find a nice spot.  
After a few minutes of walking he sits down on a tree branch, grabbing a bottle of water from his bag and taking a few gulps as he looks around. There’s a plain that he can see from where he is, and it looks like a good place to set up camp.   
When Ringo gets there he sees that there is already another tent set up, but he puts his own one on the opposite side of the open space, thinking that if he keeps his distance he’ll be fine. 

Once he’s set everything up, Ringo takes a moment and sits in front of his tent. He wishes Easy were here, like he does with everything now. Everytime Paco says something stupid or a client at work took a moment to pull him aside and tell him what an impressive employee he is, Ringo wants to walk into Easy’s apartment, sink down on the couch, throw an arm around Easy’s shoulder and tell him about all of it.  
And it’s not just the fact that he can’t share those things with Easy anymore, it’s that the things themselves don’t seem all that great if it doesn’t get a grin out of Easy.

His psychological mechanism has gotten stuck as well, the smoothness and fluidity Easy gave him now gone. For the first time in his life, Ringo had the opportunity to learn how valueable it could be to share things, to not keep feelings and problems bottled up but to have someone hold your hand, stand by your side and say, we’ll do it together.  
He doesn’t have that anymore, and the feeling that he may have lost the one person in the world who was _willing_ to go through that process with him is absolutely terrifying.

Ringo can feel himself wanting to pull back, retrieve into what he used to do before he knew Easy, but it doesn’t work anymore. The wires don’t connect in the same way as they used to, the cogwheels don’t fall together anymore and Easy’s taken the toolbox with him as he left.  
It’s like he’s left with an unfinished version of himself, someone he doesn’t entirely recognize or knows, and he can’t go back or forward, not without Easy.

And then there was Spohn. Ringo hasn’t seen him in a while but that didn’t stop him from appearing in Ringo’s head, weaving his way into every version of a post-breakup Easy that Ringo could think of.  
Ringo had a happy relationship with Easy, one he had found himself thinking of as his last relationship, the one after which he didn’t need to look any further, and then Spohn got in the way, and Ringo made the mistake of going along with it, even for just a little bit.

If Spohn had actually managed to get with Easy at this point, it would be a particularly bitter irony Ringo thinks he probably deserves anyway.  
As much as Ringo distances himself from Spohn, what really threw Ringo for a loop were the similarities. He had barely slept since he last said goodbye to Easy, thoughts of what he had lost and what he might never gain keeping him awake.

He kept imagining Easy and Spohn together, the two of them walking along the street hand in hand or having dinner together in Schiller. Spohn has that misplaced confidence and a smug face, and Ringo has only heard him talk about Easy in a lustful and objectifying way.  
Then again, when he and Easy were getting closer, Easy hadn’t seen much of the good parts, only the arrogance and the one-night stands. But Easy had let him become so much more, and Ringo didn’t see that happening with Spohn any time soon, and he didn’t know what would be worse; Spohn and Easy actually becoming a couple, or Spohn ditching Easy after a hookup.

Ringo’s train of thought is interrupted by a sound, and when his eyes follow it he sees the zipper of the other tent coming down.   
“You have got to be fucking kidding me.” Easy blurts out when he pokes his head out and looks at Ringo, and it’s loud enough that Ringo hears it.  
Ringo blinks a few times, and then stands up and walks over. “What are you doing here?” Easy asks, still on his knees and head tilted up.   
“I needed to get away.” Ringo says quietly, and he shrugs when Easy keeps his gaze and waits for a more elaborate explanation.  
“You?” Ringo asks, and Easy steps out of the tent and stands next to Ringo. “Me too, I guess.”

It’s awkward for a good twenty seconds as they stand there, Ringo looking over at his own tent, at the otherwise empty forest and then comes back to Easy and himself, the two of them helplessly standing next to each other.  
Ringo laughs. He can’t help it, he shakes his head a bit at how weird this entire situation is and when he catches Easy looking at him like he’s grown another head it only gets louder, his shoulders shaking as he cracks up.  
“Is this really that funny?” Easy sounds almost a little offended, and when Ringo looks at him Easy’s gaze softens, the corners of his mouth tugging up in amusement.

“Ahh, sorry,” Ringo says, dragging a hand over his face as he calms down again.  
Easy’s looking down at his hands now, and Ringo waits a few seconds before he says anything.  
“Do, do you want to come sit in my tent for a bit?” Ringo says, and Easy frowns at him, “I have food,” Ringo says with a half smile, and Easy shoots him a dirty look before walking past him, towards Ringo’s tent.

And so they sit, on a patch of grass in front of Ringo’s tent, the packet of crisps Ringo had handed Easy tossed to the side.   
“So I’m still as useless at camping as I was before,” Easy says, and Ringo laughs softly until he sees Easy’s hardened moody face.   
“I’m still as emotionally defective as I was before,” Ringo offers, and Easy’s eyes snap to his, and he seems shocked that Ringo would tell him something so revealing and honest just like that.

“We can’t do this,” Easy says, shaking his head and he’s already putting his hands on his knees, attempting to get up but Ringo doesn’t let him just walk away.  
“Why not? Why can we not do this? We’ve talked through things before,” Ringo says, and his voice sounds firmer and stronger even to his own ears.

“Things? What you did falls under ‘things’ now, does it?” Easy says, and Ringo sees the way he gets angry, sees the hurt that lies beneath it and knows it’s because of him.  
“I’m not saying I didn’t mess up, because I did. But I am getting better at this,” Ringo says, and Easy snorts this cold humorless laugh that Ringo hates.  
“You selling me to Spohn is better?” Easy says, rolling his eyes.  
“It’s not, I know that,” Ringo says, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment and groaning in frustration before taking a deep breath, “but I did realise it sooner. I knew it was the wrong thing the moment after I did it, I fully understand why it was wrong and I would not go about it the same way if I could have a do-over.”

Easy quirks one eyebrow, unamusedly shaking his head and Ringo can feel himself snap. “That,” Ringo points a finger at Easy as he stands up, “is not fair. I know I make plenty of mistakes, but I told you when we gave us a proper go that I would mess up, and I’m still very new to this.”  
Easy’s face falls a little at that, and Ringo presses his lips together for a moment. “You are my first ‘official’ relationship, Easy. I’m not saying I shouldn’t do better, because I should. But have you realised how trapped I’ve felt these past weeks? I’m stuck at a job I don’t really like, working for a man who I hate and who hates me, all because I screwed up my exams.”

Ringo laughs a little in disbelief. “Me!” He slaps a hand against his chest, eyes wide, “me, Ringo Beckmann, fucks up the one thing he’s supposed to be good at, focussing and studying and not allowing anything to distract me, least of all let feelings get in the way. But you were already under my skin and I was too far gone. Do you know how scary it was for me to feel that, feel how much you impacted me?”

The words flow out of his mouth, and as Ringo talks about everything they’ve been through together, tells Easy about his side of things, it becomes even clearer that Ringo didn’t stand a chance against what he felt and feels for Easy.  
“I mean for fuck’s sake, the day after my parents died I was able to turn everything off and just be numb because I needed that. I couldn’t do that with you!” He sees Easy’s eyes fill with tears, and his hands ache to reach out, hold him, but he needs to say this.

“Getting a good job was so important to me, I’ve worked so hard for it. And it’s my fault that I’m stuck where I am now. Huber has me jumping through hoops and then Spohn comes in. And he’s clearly interested in you, and you don’t think I’m jealous enough, but you don’t know that Spohn has literally told me to my face he wants to sleep with my boyfriend, and all the while I’m worrying you’ll run off with him. I’m under all of this pressure, to not upset my boss, to not upset my boyfriend and to satisfy my client. And everytime I wanted to talk about it with you, it always came back to how you don’t like how I hide myself at work.”

Ringo takes a shuddering breath in after that, and he feels lightheaded when he exhales. Easy is looking up at him, a few tears escaping from the corners of his eyes. His gaze is soft, and it feels good to tell Easy about how he feels, which is kind of a thing now Ringo guesses.  
“I am sorry for not putting you first, but I knew I would mess up somewhere because everything was just too much, and so much of it is down to me.” His shoulders sag and everything feels kind of heavy, the weight of everything he’s gone through, and then also losing Easy on top of it all, holding him down.

“I’m sorry,” Easy comes up and puts his hands on Ringo’s cheeks, “I’m sorry I didn’t listen enough.”  
Ringo gives him a small smile, knowing Easy understands. “It’s been rough, and I’ve been adding to that pressure and tension and that’s not okay.”  
Easy gives him an apologetic smile, and he stands on his tiptoes as he presses a light kiss to Ringo’s cupids bow, Ringo’s eyes fluttering shut at the contact, Easy’s touch healing as always.

“I love you.” Ringo says when Easy stays close, face hovering mere centimeters from his own. A grin breaks upon Easy’s face, teeth and dimples showing, and Ringo can feel his heart squeeze in his chest at the sight.   
“And I love you. I think we can work this out,” Easy says softly, “if you want to.” There’s a hint of worry in Easy’s eyes, and Ringo can feel his hands slip away from his waist but he places them back with his own.  
“I do want to,” Ringo smiles, and he leans his arms over Easy’s shoulders, bringing him in as he kisses Easy, slowly and languidly, taking his time.  
Ringo can feel Easy grinning against his own mouth, and it’s like Ringo can feel his heartbeat again for the first time in weeks.

Easy pulls back and rests his forehead against Ringo’s. He laughs lightly. “Should we pack up and get back, together?”  
“We could do that,” Ringo leans once more, kissing Easy’s mouth and swiping his thumb over Easy’s lower lip, “or we could make use of the quiet and peace, and that tent which I’ve expertly set up.”  
Easy rolls his eyes at Ringo’s smirk, but he’s already got one hand on the tent zipper and the other in Ringo’s.


	48. "A proposal."

It’s been raining for weeks, and today is no different. Ringo can hear the rain falling against the roof as he ticks away at his computer. Autumn had not been holding back, regular showers and dark skies appearing in late afternoons.  
He is still working long days at Huber Bau, but he doesn’t mind it that much, the days grey enough that he can blend in perfectly as if no one notices. His best days are when he can just give his boss what he needs and no one is on his case.

When Ringo checks his watch he realises Huber left thirty minutes ago, and it would be fine to clock out now, so he goes. It doesn’t matter that the walk from work to home lasts three minutes, the rain falling fast enough that Ringo’s completely soaked once he knocks on Easy’s door.  
“Hey,” Easy says softly with a small laugh when he opens the door, leaning against it with one hand behind it, away from Ringo, and watching as little droplets fall from Ringo’s hair onto his suit.

“Can I come in or are you going to let me dry out here?” Ringo says with amusement as Easy just stares at him fondly.  
Easy steps aside and lets Ringo walk in, coming to stand in front of him. “Here.” Easy triumphantly holds up a towel and stands on his tiptoes, placing the towel on Ringo’s head and gently moving it around with his hands.

Once Ringo’s hair feels drier, Easy folds the towel over his own shoulder and unbuttons Ringo’s suit jacket, peeling the wet fabric off of his arms and chuckling at Ringo’s disgusted expression.  
The jacket goes around the back of a chair and then Easy starts on the smaller buttons on Ringo’s white shirt, and he can feel Ringo staring at him as he does it.

Easy puts the shirt with the laundry, and Ringo bends down to untie his shoes, placing them by the door and making a mental note to stuff them with newspapers later.  
“Now that you’re not as wet,” Easy says as he walks back in and leans up to kiss Ringo, “hi.” Ringo smiles at him. “Hi. I’m gonna put on something dry.”

When Ringo emerges from Easy’s bedroom, in a pair of sweatpants and a T-Shirt from Easy, he walks towards Easy who’s standing by the kitchen counter, putting potato wedges onto a baking tray whilst the coffee machine is running.  
Once the tray is in the oven, he stands behind Easy, hands clasped around his waist, and Easy lets the back of his head fall against Ringo’s shoulder, Ringo leaning down to kiss the top of Easy’s head. 

“Anything I can do to help?” Ringo murmurs, and Easy slowly shakes his head. “Not really, we can eat in half an hour.”  
The purrs and hisses of the coffee machine are getting softer and less frequent, and Ringo reaches up into a cupboard to grab two mugs. “Is Tobias not having dinner here?”  
Easy walks behind Ringo toward the fridge, placing a hand on Ringo’s back as he passes him by. “He had a work thing, said he’ll be home late.”  
Ringo hums, placing the two mugs on the counter and Easy is back at the other side to pour them both a cup of coffee.

There’s a nice rhythm between them now, one that was able to flourish both in time and through the effort they both put into their relationship.  
Everything they do together has a natural flow that makes it easier, and when it’s not easy, they know they can rely on the fact that they’re both willing to put in the work, and there’s something so intimate in that trust, Ringo sometimes underestimates how much that gives him a sense of peace.

When it’s been a long workweek, and Ringo wants nothing more than to crawl into bed with his head in the crook of Easy’s shoulder and his arm around Easy’s stomach, and yet he still goes to Schiller to have a drink with their friends because he promised Easy, and after an hour Easy is the one who says they’re going to bed, playfully rolling his eyes at the half-hearted boos from their friends and promising to get the first round in next time, his hand firmly grasping Ringo’s as they make their way back to Easy’s, it’s hard to imagine anyone more perfect than Easy.

Not only that, but also that there is no one more perfect for _Ringo_ , than Easy.  
In previous relationships or even with hookups, Ringo had felt like the people he involved himself with were all kind of similar; they were attractive, and that was usually all that mattered.  
Now, he regularly sees how there is no one like Easy, and as time goes on Ringo starts to appreciate that even more, and now he can’t imagine himself with anyone else.

Easy sets the mugs down on the coffee table and sits down on the couch, holding one arm high and looking at Ringo with a soft smile, and Ringo nestles himself sideways underneath that arm as it comes down across his chest.  
“How was work today?” Easy asks. Ringo sighs and closes his eyes for a moment. “It was alright. I’m preparing a project right now for when we have new investors coming in, in a few weeks.”  
“Sounds boring.” Easy teases, and Ringo snorts, leaning towards the table to grab his coffee and also handing Easy his. “It is, but I can just work by myself instead of having someone at my desk every five minutes, so it’s fine.”  
Ringo feels Easy’s chest move as he huffs a laugh, and then there’s a hand gently stroking through his hair. “They’re lucky to have you.”

Ringo takes a sip of his coffee and then holds the mug against his chest. “Yeah, real employee of the month, me.”  
Easy definitely hears the sarcastic undertone but he ignores it, leaning over to put both of their now empty mugs on the table. “Exactly. One day, when you’ve taken a different, more challenging job somewhere else, and Huber has had a week with your replacement, he’s going to realise he’ll never have another employee like you, willing to do what you do for what you get in return.”  
Ringo rolls his head so that he looks up at Easy, and there’s nothing but honesty and understanding in his face, so Ringo moves forward a little further, his nose bumping into Easy’s as he angles his head and kisses him.

His neck starts to strain after a few seconds, so Ringo turns around, facing Easy who slides down on the couch, letting Ringo climb over him as he ducks his head down.  
Ringo’s fingers bunch up the thick material of Easy’s sweater, his mouth leaving a trail of kisses along his neck. Easy throws an arm around Ringo’s neck, and when Ringo looks at Easy’s face he has his eyes closed.  
There’s only a small light on in the kitchen, plus the lamp standing next to the couch, casting everything in a dimly lit warm glow, and Easy has never looked prettier.

Ringo grazes his fingertips on Easy’s sides as he kisses him, and Easy giggles into Ringo’s mouth, his own mouth curving into a smile.  
He leans back for a moment, just looking at Easy who looks ready for anything Ringo will give him, and Ringo knows how in love he looks. How he’s looking at Easy now, the way he would sometimes see his dad look at his mom when he thought she wasn’t paying attention.  
“I love you.” Ringo says, eyes soft and adoring, and he’s leaning down again when Easy stops him, two flat palms against Ringo’s chest.

Ringo looks at him questioningly, pausing his movements.  
“Marry me.” Easy says, like he decided to ask three seconds ago yet they were the only two words that could come out of his mouth.  
His eyes are wide, blinking fast a few times and then Easy licks his lips before he speaks again.  
“I’ve been thinking about asking you for a while, but I thought maybe we should talk about it first, because I know it’s a scary commitment, and I don’t-”  
“Yes.” Ringo breathes, and the moment it leaves his lips he knows it’s what he wants.

Easy snaps his mouth shut. “Yes?”  
Ringo laughs a little, his head bowing before coming back up again. “Yes, I will marry you. If you’ll have me.”  
Easy reaches in and grabs Ringo’s face with both hands, connecting their lips and pulling Ringo in like he never intends on letting go.  
Ringo has a hand on the side of Easy’s cheek, they’re grinning at each other, eyes twinkling with excitement, and Easy whispers, “I will.”


	49. "What if Ringo saw Spohn's message before Easy?"

“I was just a little…” Ringo trails off, Easy standing on his tiptoes with a questioning look on his face.  
“Over the top?” Easy suggests. “Jealous.” Ringo decides, and Easy echoes it.  
“Ringo, I’ve chosen you,” Easy says, moving Ringo so they’re fully facing each other, Ringo’s eyes on the ground.  
“I love you,” Easy says, softly, “even when you’re not an angel.” Ringo’s eyes flick up to Easy’s at that.  
Easy does that thing he always does when they’ve made up, hovering his face near Ringo’s, looking at his eyes, his mouth and then his eyes again, wearing an affectionate yet teasing grin.

Ringo is already giving in, leaning in closer when Easy’s phone makes a noise. His face hardens in unamusement. “Spohn?”  
Easy gives him this incredulous look, and Ringo raises a hand in defense, making a non-committal grunt. Easy reaches into his pocket and takes his phone out without giving it a glance, placing it on the dinner table.  
There’s fingers tugging at the knot of Ringo’s tie, both to loosen it and to pull him closer. “You sure you don’t wanna get that?” Ringo says quietly in the small space between them.

Easy pulls the tie away from Ringo’s neck and hangs it over his own shoulder, a smile playing around his lips as he now works on the buttons of Ringo’s shirt.  
“I’m sure. I wanna get you, whilst I’ve got you here.” Ringo pushes his tongue into his cheek with an eye-roll, and he hears Easy’s warm laugh before his lips connect with his own.

And later, when his back hits Easy’s matress, warm hands gliding over any patch of bare skin they can find, Ringo relishes in how it feels.  
Savors the way Easy can make anything feel light and joyous, all twinkling eyes and shining grins. Takes pride in making that smile fall, Easy’s face going slack and eyes rolling back.  
They always find each other, and more importantly, they’re always looking for one another. And Ringo once again comes to the conclusion that he can’t let anything get in between him and Easy, that nothing is worth losing Easy over.

There will be other jobs, however important this one may be to him. There will be other opportunities, other people who will see them together and wonder how someone as good as Easy got stuck with someone like Ringo.  
But Ringo knows that as long as Easy is still there at the end of the day, it will be okay.

Ringo tries to get out of bed as slowly and gracefully as possible, so as not to wake a sleeping Easy. He shuts Easy’s bedroom door and grabs a glass of water.  
He’s halfway through his drink when the screen of Easy’s phone lights up again, and he sees the notification from earlier: text from Jan Spohn.

Ringo quickly unlocks the phone and reads the message. _I accept your decision, but you should know what you’re getting yourself into._ Then, from a minute later: _Voice message_.  
His finger is already at the play button, and he quickly turns the volume down as he suddenly hears his own voice. _No, I promised you a date. And you got that. It was all yours. And if you can’t get Easy to sleep with you, then that’s your problem._

Of course, he recorded it. If he can’t have Easy, then Ringo can’t have him either. His eye falls on the delete button, and he’s practically made the decision when he realises it’s no use.  
Spohn has this recording, there’s nothing holding him back from simply sending it again, or letting Easy hear it in person.

Ringo sits down on one of the chairs, shoving Easy’s phone to the middle of the table as he thinks of what to do. Then Easy’s bedroom door opens, and Easy leans against the doorway, stifling a yawn.  
“Hey, where’d you go?” Ringo gives him a small smile. “Right here.”  
Easy smiles back at him, trying to get back to where they were before, but he picks up on the shift in Ringo, and the smile drops, so he walks forward and sits down at the table, next to Ringo. 

“Is there something you want to talk about?” Easy asks, his tone neutral and Ringo knows he’s trying but he can’t help but feel like a four-year-old being sat down in front of a pile of glass shards, and Easy’s just asked him if there’s anything he wants to share about the vase.  
Ringo guesses this is what he gets for not doing it the right way. “I do. Because I want to move past this thing with Spohn,” Ringo starts, and Easy opens his mouth at the mention of Spohn’s name but Ringo places a hand on his, “and I know you do too. But there’s something you should know.”

Easy blinks slowly. “Okay.” Ringo nods at him, and breathes in deeply, trying to figure out what the best way is to say what he has to say, whilst owning up to what he did and if it’s possible, to not have Easy hate him at the end of it.  
Perhaps he should just rip one of the bandaids off. “Spohn wants to sleep with you.” Ringo says, and Easy’s brows draw down for a moment. 

“And he made that a requirement for a deal with Huber Bau.” Ringo continues, relieved to see the outrage and disgust on Easy’s face but knowing there’s one more bridge to cross, “and I nearly gave him what he wanted.”  
Easy’s head quickly turns to fully look at Ringo, and Ringo can see the disappointment registering in Easy’s eyes. “Oh Ringo,” Easy says, and he sounds broken in a way that makes Ringo hate himself.

“I did not want Spohn to sleep with you, and I did not want him to force you to do anything. I want him as far away from you as possible, quite frankly.” Ringo says firmly, getting worked up and annoyed just talking about Spohn trying to worm his way into their lives, “but I did promise him a date with you. And I told him that if he couldn’t get you to sleep with him, then that was his problem.”

Easy has his eyes squeezed shut tightly, and he sighs deeply as he moves a hand over his face. He almost starts talking a couple of times, and then settles on, “Why are you telling me this?”.  
“He sent you a recording of me talking about the deal with him,” Ringo says honestly, “but also because I can’t handle this. Knowing that I did this and you not knowing.”  
Easy pushes his lips together as he slowly nods a few times, and he looks tense and a little angry but not as explosive as Ringo expected.

Ringo has to restrain himself to not start talking again, but he just looks at Easy, waiting for something. Easy places both his hands on the table.   
“What you did, was incredibly fucking stupid.” Easy states, and Ringo can’t do anything except silently agree with a little nod.  
Easy looks at his hands as he mentally goes through everything. “He used me as a pawn in a business deal,” Easy mutters, shaking his head, “creep.”

Ringo can feel stinging at the back of his eyes. “And I didn’t flat out refuse like I should have. I let him use me, and I let him use you. I’m so sorry.”  
Easy nods at him, and when he looks back at Ringo he just looks tired and resigned.   
“Give me a few days. I, I need some space after this. I’m angry, and I just need to not be around you for a bit.” “Okay,” Ringo croaks, knowing it’s only fair but hating himself for putting them in this situation.

“Ringo,” Easy says, and he hesitates for a second but then grabs one of Ringo’s hands and holds it, “thank you for telling me. I appreciate that.”  
It’s probably more than he deserves, but Ringo feels grateful nonetheless. And he keeps his distance, like he promised Easy.  
He doesn’t drop by with dinner, doesn’t call or text him and he sleeps in his own room for eight consecutive days for the first time in months.  
When he bumps into Tobias in the stairway, he doesn’t get an earful. He’s clearly angry at him but Tobias just says, “give it time,” before moving on.

After dinner, Ringo goes upstairs to his bedroom. He has just settled on his bed when his phone buzzes. _Can you come over?_   
A minute later, he’s at Easy’s door. “It’s open,” Easy says with a raised voice when Ringo knocks. He opens the door but stays just past the threshold, not wanting to overstep his boundaries.

“Hey,” Easy says, and he walks towards Ringo when he stays where he is. “Hi.” Ringo says softly, and Easy’s face looks warm and friendly.   
It’s quiet for a few moments. “So, Tobias didn’t yell at me when he saw me.” Ringo says, in an attempt to lighten the charged mood, “what’s that about? Are you still best friends?”

Easy half grins, looking away for a moment. “It’s because he knows I love you.” Ringo is the one who looks away now, the words falling heavy, and Ringo doesn’t know if he can carry them.

“Even when I’m like this?” Ringo says, a hand gesturing to himself and the space around him. “Yes.” Easy says quietly, and he steps closer, both palms gliding over Ringo’s chest until they stop at his shoulders.  
Easy’s eyes are trained on Ringo’s face but he’s not returning the gaze. “I wouldn’t blame you if you stayed angry and didn’t forgive me.”

“Ringo,” Easy murmurs softly, a hand under Ringo’s chin as he lifts his face, the both of them now looking at each other.  
“It was stupid, and I was hurt. Would I rather you didn’t do those things? Yes,” Easy says, the words soft but clear, only meant for Ringo’s ears, “but I love you.”  
Easy leans in a little further and brushes his lips against Ringo’s, a feather light touch that stitches Ringo’s heart back together.   
“And you, Richard Beckmann, are it for me.”


	50. "The night after the breakup from Ringo's perspective."

You know, when people say that they ruin everything they touch, the people around them are quick to protest. But it’s much harder to refute when you have the evidence to back up your claim.

And it’s so fucking stupid. Because in retrospect, things do seem a little clearer. When Easy spat Ringo’s actions back in his face, it fully sinks in that he ended up in a place where he did not want to go. 

But it’s difficult. Standing in front of a steaming Easy, hearing the words tumble out and the pull of disgust around Easy’s mouth, and not being able to tell him about what happened in his head. About where it started.  
About how Ringo struggled with having to settle for a job he knew he didn’t deserve, knowing Huber would always be able to hold his self-sabotage over his head and make him dance however he wanted.

How he still wanted to make the best of it, but balancing doing work which asked Ringo to toe the line every now and then, and still have Easy love him, was difficult. Especially when Ringo had a hard time believing that Easy thought of him as a good person.

Not knowing whether Easy saw there was good in him, and that allowed his feelings to blossom, or if Easy knew from the start Ringo would not always do the right thing and loved him nonetheless, maybe even _because of it_ , would blur Ringo’s vision every now and then, and when it all ended with Easy yelling at him, it was hard to take and he would often feel powerless in his inability to let Easy in.

They had hated each other’s guts for years - although the line between hating or wanting each other would soften in flashes - and then the ice melted, and they would find themselves in these weird moments in which they were actually getting along.

The way Easy viewed him however, did not change. Ringo would catch bites of conversations between Easy and their friends, rolling their eyes at Ringo’s latest act of mischief or something worse, _“It’s Ringo, what did you expect?”_.  
It was easier like that, in a way. Easy always expected the worst from Ringo, which made the nice things that came up in between feel like a pleasant suprise.   
To Easy, Ringo was an asshole with a soft spot for him. A heart of stone that was hard to infiltrate, but once you did you would see it begged for affection and love. Ringo sometimes wonders if Easy fell in love with a Ringo that does not exist.

Now, Easy operates from the opposite side. The tables have turned, he expects different things. Ringo is supposed to be on the good side now, he should know better than to do the things he still does. He’s supposed to be a changed man.

And he is, on a certain level. He’s peeling back the layers, doing his best to talk to Easy instead of going ahead with things the way he wants to. If he hadn’t been with Easy, he might have made an even bigger mess of things than he has now. And that’s a sad thought which firmly nestles itself into his brain.

Ringo doesn’t know if he can be what Easy wants him to be. The source of his intentions has shifted, as have his priorities. And that is a weird feeling, which sometimes cause the choices he makes to feel a little clunky and awkward.  
Knowing he wants to do right by Easy, be a good person, but the need for a good career and not minding having to step on a few toes (who deserved it anyway) to get there, that did not just disappear overnight.

Maybe Easy knows he is still that person. That he’ll never fully change, become something he’s just not. You trip a lot faster when people are always looking at your feet, even more so when in their heads they already believe you’ve fallen.

And then there’s the whole talking thing. He’s still not completely used to that, having someone who is ready to listen to anything you have to say, a place where you can lay down your thoughts.   
Sometimes Ringo later realises and pinpoints the moments he should have gone to Easy and talked to him about it. If everytime they fought Ringo could just pull out a map and say, “here. This is how it went. This is how I felt and what I thought, this is what I thought would happen,” his life would be so much easier.

Because intentions do matter. Everyone around him points at the bottom line, making him face the fact that despite his intentions, he still hurt Easy.   
And of course that’s important. Ringo knows that. Worse even, Ringo _feels_ it. Things just don’t always go the way he wants them to, even if he does take Easy into account.

Would he have been fine with Spohn sleeping with Easy in order to secure the deal? No way. But he wants to keep his job, doesn’t want to feel like a loser and a failure, so he _has_ to obey Huber. That in turn makes it so that he _has_ to make sure Spohn becomes an investor for the company, and Ringo could not have known that the investor he is supposed to reel in would not shy away from using sex as a currency.

The moment Ringo sees how Spohn immediately tries to become involved with Easy, he wants to walk away, to hell with anything else. But it’s not an option. Losing the job means all of his hard work was for nothing, and even the memory of opening that letter and seeing his score still makes him feel sick.  
It’s like he can trace back the lines to himself, every time. And Easy stands there, voice shaking, “what would have happened if I did end up in bed with Spohn?” and Ringo knows he’s lost.

The more he says the worse he makes it but he can’t tie the words together in the right way. _I never meant for any of this to happen. I need this job, it makes me feel more or less okay with myself. I’m scared you’ll leave me if I get fired. Huber’s approval means more to me than I’d like to admit. I panicked and didn’t know how to handle Spohn. I thought I could protect you from him, I thought I could keep everything away from you and you’d never have to know about it because I had handled it._

It was easier before, when he didn’t care about most things, and it allowed him to do what gave him the most in return. He felt comfortable like that, and he rarely had anything to lose.

Now, he has a lot more to lose, and it feels like he’s doing worse than he did before. Holding something so delicate with hands that were made to break things.  
He just hopes Easy sees how he comes back everytime, bandaid in hand.


	51. 175: “Well, fine; just this once.”

Easy is one of the happiest people Ringo knows. It really is a miracle he managed to fall in love with someone so obnoxiously light and joyous.  
Being able to put things in perspective, always reaching out and talking people through hard times or sometimes just be there with open arms, is what Ringo admires and loves about Easy.  
But no one is happy all the time.

So when Ringo is sitting on the couch in the flat share, laptop on his lap, eyes scanning over some documents for Huber Bau, and his phone buzzes with a text from Easy saying how he’s tired and is going to sleep instead of meeting up like they had agreed, something does not sit right with him.  
Even if Easy is tired, that usually results in him falling asleep on Ringo’s shoulder halfway through a movie they’re watching, or if he admits to feeling exhausted, dragging Ringo to bed and wrapping Ringo’s arms around him, Easy’s back to his chest.  
Ringo quickly texts him back. _You can come over if you want, everyone is either out or asleep_.

He continues reading and after a few minutes the door of the flat share opens a bit. “Hey.” Easy says, and Ringo can see he’s been crying, red splotches on his face from rubbing away tears.  
“Hey.” Ringo gives him a gentle smile, but Easy hovers at the door. “You wanna come in?” He hesitates for a moment but then sits down next to Ringo.

“Can I do anything?” Ringo immediately offers, wanting to validate Easy’s feelings, show that he knows he’s upset but also wanting to give Easy a chance to be clear about his needs right now.  
Easy just silently shakes his head, and Ringo wants to pull at him a little more but he knows it won’t work in his favour, so he nods and continues to read.  
They sit like that for a while, and when Ringo glances to his side he sees Easy just staring into nothing, eyes more empty than Ringo has seen in a while.

He has another document to read but when he’s finished with his current one Ringo closes his laptop and puts it aside. Ringo looks at Easy, and his heart breaks to see the man he loves be so somber and gloomy.  
Ringo leans forward, presses his lips against Easy’s cheek and Easy’s face crumples as his lip quivers, fat droplets falling on his cheeks. Ringo puts a hand on Easy’s leg but makes no further move, not wanting to overstep.

Easy sniffles quietly and rubs a hand in his eye. “Can I,” Easy croaks, gesturing a hand towards Ringo, who smiles at him. “Well, fine; just this once.”   
Easy pauses, and Ringo gives him a pointed look as he lifts his arms, lets Easy crawl into his lap and then lays his arms around him, one hand stroking through his hair.  
“Today was rough, hm?” Easy nods against his leg, and Ringo bends down to press a kiss against Easy’s arm.

There have been plenty of times where Easy was there to catch the pieces as Ringo fell apart in front of him, and sometimes Ringo wonders about their relationship, about if Easy might feel like he has to be strong all the time.  
Which is what makes it feel special and intimate, the man he loves laying himself down and admitting he doesn’t feel well, and Ringo couldn’t love him more.  
Easy breathes in on a shudder, and Ringo strokes his side as he exhales. “I’m glad you came over.” Ringo whispers, and Easy shifts so that he’s looking up at Ringo, the back of his head on Ringo’s legs.

“Everything just kind of went wrong today, and then I checked the news and all of this horrible stuff is happening,” Easy says, biting down on his lower lip as he wells up again, “and I can’t do anything about it.”  
Ringo threads his fingers through the longer strands of Easy’s hair, gently smoothing it out. “You can’t fix the entire world, and you don’t have to.”  
Easy gives him a desperate look, and Ringo fondly smiles. “But I understand the feeling. It shows how compassionate you are.”

They lay like that as the minutes pass by, neither of them saying anything, Ringo rubbing a hand up and down Easy’s arm.   
“I do hope you know that even if you can’t achieve world peace,” Ringo traces a thumb over Easy’s lip, “you do make my days a whole lot more bright.”  
Easy’s entire face softens, and the warmth and love bleeds back into his eyes as he sits up in Ringo’s lap, holding Ringo’s face in both hands as he slowly kisses him.  
“Thank you.” Easy whispers and Ringo smiles at him.   
“Thank you for coming to me when you were upset.” Ringo whispers back, and Easy squeezes his hand. 

And when Easy falls asleep next to him in Ringo’s bed that night he may not be less upset or sad, but he’s not alone.


	52. "Cute birthday fluff for Easy's birthday."

When Easy wakes up, he’s alone in his bed, which is a bit strange given that he did fall asleep with his face pressed to Ringo’s chest.  
He rubs his eyes a few times and sits further up. That’s definitely the smell of coffee wafting over from the kitchen.

There’s a dull sound and then the door opens, Ringo using his foot to softly kick the door open and holding a tray in his hands.

“Good morning,” Ringo walks over, setting the tray down on the bed and then carefully climbing around it to sit next to Easy.  
“Hey,” Easy smiles at him and Ringo smiles back, his eyes trailing over every detail of Easy’s face as he uses his hand to brush through Easy’s hair.  
Ringo looks at him so endearingly, it’s almost too much to bear, and Easy looks away but Ringo puts a hand under Easy’s chin and gently turns his head back.

“Happy birthday,” Ringo whispers, and he leans in to kiss Easy. Easy can immediately taste a strong minty flavour on Ringo’s tongue because _of course_ Ringo thought to brush his teeth, and he laughs against his mouth.

Ringo grins back and for a moment their smiles are so wide their lips barely touch, only a faint brush, but Ringo’s hand is at the side of Easy’s face and Easy has a hand on Ringo’s shoulder, his thumb brushing over his collarbone.

And then he presses a kiss to Easy’s cupid’s bow, the corner of Easy’s mouth, and it’s so gentle and soft and full of an affection Ringo has only ever truly carried for him, and Easy can feel his chest flood with warmth.

He sighs contently on a half moan, and Ringo kisses Easy’s closed eyelids, along the side of his face before placing his mouth on the skin right under Easy’s jaw.  
He kisses it first, but then Easy feels his tongue touching the skin, and then a feeling of suction.

“Do you really want me to spend my birthday with a hickey on my neck?” Easy says, voice breathy and just above a whisper, lacking the conviction to truly warn Ringo off.

“Mm,” Ringo hums against his skin, “but you look so good with them.” Easy huffs a light laugh. He could spend all day like this, and he would not regret a second of it.

“Although,” Ringo leans back and grabs a mug from the tray, handing it to Easy, “I did make coffee before you had a chance to get grumpy, and we don’t want to let that get cold.”  
Easy raises his eyebrows. “I do not get grumpy.” He takes a sip of the coffee and closes his eyes for a moment in bliss, and when he opens them again Ringo has his lips pressed together, trying to smother a teasing grin.

“What do you want to do today?” Ringo asks. Easy shrugs, grabbing a croissant from the tray and taking a bite. “I don’t know, just relax I guess. You have to work anyway.”

Ringo gives him a look, and Easy puts one hand up in defense. “I’m not saying anything bad about it, but you know.” Ringo flicks the tip of Easy’s nose with his finger and presses a quick kiss to his lips.

“I took the afternoon off.” Easy’s eyes widen. Well, now he feels like a dick. “Plus, I’m cooking you dinner tonight. If you want.” Ringo adds, and he looks at Easy a couple of times but never long, doubt and nervosity in his demeanor.

“You really took the afternoon off?” Easy asks, a small smile playing around his lips and Ringo just shrugs at him as if it’s nothing. “Yeah, just in case.”

Easy pauses. “In case what?” Ringo throws the last of his coffee back and sets the mug down. “In case you want to spend your birthday with me.”

He looks at the door for a while, and then blinks a few times and looks back at Easy, and Easy’s heart breaks a little at how uncertain Ringo looks.  
Easy leans over and takes Ringo’s hand in his own, raising them to his face and kissing the back of Ringo’s hand.

“Of course I do. I want to be with the people I love.” Ringo visibly brightens at that, and he kisses Easy fully, the firm pressure of Ringo’s mouth against his own a pleasant feeling.  
“How,” Easy mumbles in between kisses, using half a glance to move the tray out of the way and then pushing Ringo down into the matress, “much time do we have before you have to be at the office?”

Ringo glides his hands over Easy’s chest, holding them around his waist. “Hm, not much.” Easy stops his movements and hovers over Ringo. “You really know how to kill the mood.”

Ringo grins up at him. “We can always pick up where we left off later.” He leans up and kisses him, using one hand to glide over Easy’s front until he can hear and feel Easy’s breath stutter.

He whispers. “Birthday boy.”


	53. 34. “I don’t deserve to be loved.”

No one says anything. Probably because nothing feels right or appropriate. They’re still sat around the table, everyone undoubtedly thinking of Elli and Paco.   
Every now and then someone will open their mouth but then decide against it, sighing and then sitting back again.   
When Easy looks at Ringo, leaning against the kitchen counter, his gaze absent and contemplative, he can hear his words from earlier again.   
_“I actually just wanted to be alone.”_

Grief is a difficult thing to feel and to process, and Ringo knows that like no one. Easy’s eyes remain on Ringo, on how quiet and withdrawn he looks, softer around the edges.  
Easy gently clears his throat. “Should we go back to mine?” After three seconds Ringo turns his head, nodding at Easy, but it’s like he’s not completely there.   
“Call me if you need anything. That goes for all of you.” Easy says to the entire room, and there’s a few small smiles, more out of politeness than anything else, but it’s enough.

He lets Ringo walk into their apartment first, and then gently closes the door. Easy feels an urge to not be loud or harsh, the atmosphere around them too delicate and raw.   
Ringo takes slow steps towards the couch and then plops down with a heavy thud. Easy sits down next to him.

Again, there is silence. Everything that pops into Easy’s head seems silly to say, like nothing is fitting or enough. He decides to go with what he feels.  
“What you said, earlier, about losing your parents,” he says quietly, and Ringo turns to look at him, “that took courage, to share that.”

Ringo holds his gaze for a moment, and then some of the emotion bleeds back into his face, eyelids slightly drooping, mouth a thin almost straight line, and Easy can feel a lump in his throat as he tears up a little.   
Ringo leans forward and presses his lips firmly against Easy’s cheek, leaning his forehead against the side of Easy’s head afterwards.

“I wasn’t in a good place when they died,” Ringo says, voice trembling, “but I need you to know I’m in a better place now. Because I know you’re worried.”  
Easy smiles a little, despite everything. He really does know him well.

“When my parents died, I was filled with self hatred.” Easy sees Ringo’s lip quiver but he bites down on it, tears burning in his eyes. “And everyone who sort of cared about me seemed to either leave or die, so I just thought…”

Two thick droplets fall onto Ringo’s lap and Easy scoots closer, holding a hand to the back of Ringo’s neck, silently waiting, giving Ringo the time and comfort he needs.  
“I don’t deserve to be loved,” Ringo says, his voice catching on the last word, and when he looks at Easy, Easy can see how Ringo can still connect to that feeling, has seen it in the self-deprecating comments he thinks Easy doesn’t hear and recognizes it in the way Ringo pulls back sometimes, isolates himself because he thinks it’s what Easy needs.

Easy looks at the person he loves most in the world, his heart aching, and wants nothing more than to love him until the end of their days.   
There’s a moment where it flashes through Easy’s mind that he doesn’t think he’ll ever love anyone else like this, and doesn’t want to be loved _by_ anyone except Ringo.  
He feels admiration for him, for how the urge to ignore the things he feels is always tugging at Ringo, but he turns up at Easy’s doorstep with his bleeding heart in his hands anyway.

Ringo takes a deep breath in and out, and it shudders out of his mouth. Wordlessly he grabs Easy’s hand and intertwines his fingers with his own, both of them holding a promise to each other to be there.   
“I still feel like that sometimes.” Ringo admits quietly, and Easy presses a kiss to the back of his hand. “I know. Which is why I love you with everything I have.”

They share a look, filled with nothing but affection and love, and it says everything.  
“I don’t know how the next few weeks or months are going to be,” Easy says, a heavy feeling in his chest, “but I would like it if we kept talking. About what we need from each other and what we want.”  
Ringo squeezes his hand. “Okay.”

“I miss her.” Easy says, and Ringo nods beside him. “Yeah, me too.”


	54. "Losing Elli makes Ringo think of how much he loves Easy."

The days have gotten heavy. It feels like the time is weighing down Ringo’s shoulders and he does not have the luxury of standing still and taking a break.  
He’s a fucking cliché now, someone around him passing away and all of a sudden his entire perspective on life seems to shift, and it feels stupid and inadequate.   
It’s not the first time that he has to deal with death from a close distance, by any means, and yet it sinks its claws into him until he can feel his insides squeeze together.

Easy and him had already been through the whole, ‘I need to deal with this alone but you want to talk about feelings’ thing, but it had not gotten easier.  
Sometimes he catches Easy crying, welling up at a memory of Elli or full-on sobbing over photographs, and Ringo envies him.   
What it looks like, is that Easy is wired the right way.   
His brain is dealing with the loss of a close friend in a way that allows him to feel the things that are in his heart, verbalise them to others who share those feelings, and somehow carry on with daily life whilst processing all of that.

Ringo feels like he is failing on all fronts, knowing he is sad about Elli’s passing and missing her, but then seeing his friends and immediately doubting if he is feeling _enough_.  
It creeps up on him, and suddenly he lies awake at night, thinking about what he would regret if he would die this year.   
And then, nothing about what he’s doing feels right.   
He feels dumb for having an epiphany about what life is _really_ about, just because a friend passed away. Talking about his feelings feels weak, and not talking about them feels cowardly, and he _knows_ he has a boyfriend who is there for him no matter what, so who the fuck is he doing this for?

Everything seems to come to a breaking point one afternoon, about two months after Elli’s funeral, when he’s sitting at his desk at Huber Bau, staring at a wall.  
He catches himself looking at his watch for the third time in a minute, and there’s an itch under his skin that won’t go away. It’s to a point that Larissa, sitting opposite of him, notices.  
“Who are you so eager to see?” It’s clearly a throw-away comment, she doesn’t even take her eyes of her screen, but it narrows Ringo’s thoughts down to a question.

Easy.

It’s like he falls in love with him all over again, in about ten seconds. Ringo loves being with Easy, loves being close to him. 

Loves it when he’s standing at the kitchen counter and Easy sneaks up behind him, arms coming around his waist until he feels Easy press a kiss in between his shoulderblades.

Loves it when Easy can just _tell_ he’s not feeling great, opens his arms and hugs him, really hugs him, and Ringo buries himself in Easy’s embrace until he feels nothing except the warmth of Easy’s hands on his arms and his breath on Ringo’s neck.

Loves it when they’re with their friends, and Easy is on his second glass of wine, and Tobias says something stupid and Easy laughs, fully laughs with his head thrown back and his eyes squeezed shut, his cheeks rosy and his eyes bright.

Loves it when he’s just sitting on the couch watching TV by himself and Easy walks in with a grin on his face, slides himself onto Ringo’s lap like it’s the only place he wants to be and kisses him, hands over Ringo’s body in places where they’ve been a thousand times but still searching, exploring.

Loves it when Easy tells him about his day over dinner, the good and the bad, sometimes getting wound up there and then over things that don’t matter in the long run but they do _now_ , and Easy wants to share it with him.

He turns his head to Larissa, his voice quiet. “None of this fucking matters.” She frowns at him with a little burst of laughter, her eyes narrowing as she looks at him with confusion.  
“Never mind.” Ringo waves a hand at her and shoves some files into his bag, closing it and then standing up. “See you tomorrow.”

He hears her mutter an ’… okay?’ on his way out, and then he’s home faster than he’s even been before.   
He finds Easy, sitting in bed with his laptop. “Hey,” Easy says softly, “you’re early.”

Ringo blinks, wanting to transfer what he’s feeling but not knowing which words to use.  
“Yeah. I love you.”  
Easy lifts his eyes from his screen, a slow smile forming on his face and he closes it and puts it away.   
“I love you too,” he says, standing in front of Ringo, and the fact that he’s not confused by this sudden declaration of affection from Ringo is probably even further proof why his heart could never belong to anyone else except Easy.

“I think,” Ringo starts, clearing his throat, and Easy’s arms hang loosely around his waist, “I think Elli’s passing made me think about things, about what’s important.”  
Easy hums softly, warm brown trusting eyes looking up at him. “You’re important. You’re so important, you’re everything.” He can practically feel his heart swell as he looks down at Easy, and Easy face kind of melts as he leans up and quickly kisses Ringo.  
“So many things don’t matter. There’s so much stuff that I do and worry about that just doesn’t fucking matter.” Easy’s eyes search his face and Ringo gives him a small smile.  
“And I know this is disgustingly sentimental, but the love I have for you and you for me is what matters. Because that’s what everything comes back to, and what keeps me going in the end.”

“You’re right,” Easy nods solemnly, a teasing grin on his face, “that is disgustingly sentimental.” Ringo huffs a laugh, rolling his eyes halfheartedly, even when Easy grabs his face and kisses it.  
Easy sobers a bit, eyes soft and affectionate as they look at Ringo. “You can always come back to me.” Ringo smiles, almost shyly, and grabs Easy’s hand.  
“You and me then, always?”   
“Always.”


	55. "Ringo dreams that Easy dies."

There are sounds of muffled cries and quiet sniffles all around the room.   
Once he’s noticed that, Ringo recognizes them. Paco, Saskia, Tobias, Bambi, Sina and Vivien. He tries to make eye contact with them but they avoid his gaze.

A voice booms throughout the room, a loud droning on his ears, and then there is tension and a deep sadness twisting up his insides.

He can’t quite make out what is being said, but it sounds like a narration, and a name comes through.

Easy.

Everyone is standing in a circle now, and somewhere along the lines Ringo hears his own name. And the eyes that refused to look at him before now all turn his way.  
He’s pulled forward, looking down at a bleeding and bruised Easy. Ringo reaches out his hands, but Easy keeps getting further away from him.  
His feet won’t move as fast as he wants them to, and his entire body aches with the need to be closer, get Easy back, but it’s no use.  
It’s like he’s being chased by the thing he is running after, and the image of the man he loves falls apart in front of him.

His entire body shakes, and then he’s awake, Easy next to him, very much alive, and firmly grasping his hand, a worried look on his face.  
“Hey, where’d you go?” Easy says quietly, running a hand through Ringo’s hair and then gliding it across his cheek.   
It’s only when the numbness dissipates, and Ringo is able to connect with the physical feeling of his body, can feel Easy’s touch, that he realises he was dreaming.

Ringo looks Easy in the eyes, a questioning look on his face, and leans forward in a swoop, holding Easy with both arms, needing to be close.  
He hears Easy mumble an “oh, okay”, and then Easy buries his face in Ringo’s neck.   
“I love you,” Ringo whispers into Easy’s hair, and he can feel Easy nod his head against his chest.   
“I love you,” Easy repeats, and he moves back so he can look at Ringo, leaning up to kiss his lips.

Easy stays silent, waiting and patient, and Ringo’s chest fills with warmth and gratitude for the man he loves, who understands him like no one else.   
“Bad dream.” Ringo says into the quiet of Easy’s bedroom. Easy brushes his thumb over Ringo’s knuckles.   
“I dreamt I lost you,” Ringo says, leaning in to brush his lips against Easy’s forehead, “permanently.”   
He can feel his lip quiver against Easy’s skin, and he knows Easy felt it too, because he holds Ringo’s face with both hands.

Two warm, familiar and trusting brown eyes look at him with an affection and adoration Ringo knows he’ll never want from anyone else, and it grounds him, roots him into this moment, where it is just the two of them under the dark cover of the night, and it’s all he wants for the rest of his life.

“I’m right here.” Easy says, a small smile on his face, and he kisses Ringo, lingers for a while and Ringo pulls him in, gets lost in the feel of Easy’s mouth against his own.  
Easy pulls back, a slight grin around his mouth, and Ringo sighs softly. “You won’t be forever though.”

Easy’s face goes kind of blank at that, the heaviness of such a comment making him stop and think. Then he shrugs.  
“Maybe I will be. I could be immortal.” Ringo snorts, and Easy slaps his arm. “I could be! I have never died, you know.”  
Ringo laughs, because he can’t not, and the air feels a little lighter.  
Ringo envies the way Easy knows how to pull him back, has a comfort about him which he knows how to give to other people.

Easy lays him down, both hands softly pushing at his shoulders until his back is fully on the mattress, and Ringo brushes his fingers through Easy’s hair until they’re both asleep.  
He knows it could help to talk about this with Easy, about losing people and about feeling grief, but for now, this is enough.   
Just the two of them, together.


	56. "Ringo and Easy meet through internet dating."

When Easy steps into the bar, it’s crowded. The majority of the tables are taken, and there’s a decent amount of people standing by the bar.

He takes a deep breath and stands by the door, scanning the room, fingers twitching to just grab his phone already.

He hasn’t been on a date in years, and in a moment of weakness he downloaded a dating app onto his phone. Easy didn’t even really feel the need to have a relationship, but one day he had looked around and realised everything in his life has been the same for a while now.

Meeting someone new could be a good thing, whether it would be as mates or something more.

The profile of the man he was meeting was one he had liked with a snort, not thinking the guy would like him back, let alone start a conversation. His profile picture looked like a photo taken for a professional portfolio, a black and white photo with the man wearing a suit, his fingers toying with the buttons on one of the sleeves.

Not in any way the average profile. Easy had tapped the heart, mumbling something about a Hugo Boss ad and chuckling to himself.

He had a message from him the next day.

But the conversation didn’t flow easily between them, and the guy’s approach was as business-like as his photo. Any jokes Easy tried to make fell flat, and after a few messages back and forth, Easy stopped getting replies.

He hadn’t thought any more of it, until, after months, he got a single message: Are you free for a drink tonight?

And that’s how Easy finds himself in a bar he has never been to, in a part of town he definitely normally doesn’t visit. There’s too many people walking around and it makes it hard to find the person he’s looking for.

Easy had messaged him, asking what he would be wearing so he would be recognizable, but the guy didn’t give him any clues. _“You’ve seen a photo of my face, why would you need to know what I’m wearing?”_

Five minutes have passed now and Easy starts to feel uncomfortable and out of place, standing near the entrance on his own, and then a warm hand grabs his elbow.

“I see why you wanted a visual hint.” Easy looks to his side, into the smirking face of his date, and he narrows his eyes at him, but the smile doesn’t waver.

“You have seen the amount of people here, yeah?”

Easy has to raise his voice slightly to make himself clear, and the guy just rolls his eyes at him. He sticks his hand out. “Ringo.” Easy grabs it. “Easy.”

The bar is a lot bigger at the back than Easy initially thought, and he follows Ringo as they sit down at a table there, a much quieter space.

“Did you have trouble finding this place?” Ringo asks as they sit down. Easy shakes his head. “No, wasn’t too difficult. I don’t see this side of town often though.”

Ringo hums. “Yeah, it’s a bit posh around here. I have to come here for work sometimes, lunch with clients and that kind of thing. It’s more comfortable like this though.” Ringo gestures to himself, to the simple shirt, blazer and jeans he’s wearing.

Easy thinks to himself how unfair it is that he looks equally as good in this outfit as he does in a three-piece suit.

A waiter comes and takes their orders, and a few minutes later they’re both sipping on a beer. “I would have thought you’re more the whiskey type.” Easy comments.

Ringo looks at him with surprise, and then there’s a soft smile on his face. “I do quite like whiskey. But I like beer as well, especially when I’m out.”

A silence falls over them, and they both quietly look around the room, taking a swig of their drink every now and then, and sometimes when their eyes accidentally meet, they both smile a little shyly, and Easy can’t remember the last time he felt so giddy.

“So you’re a photographer, right?” Ringo asks, and Easy nods. “Freelance?” Easy runs a finger over the rim of his glass. “Yeah, I prefer it that way. Gives me more variety in the kinds of jobs I do.”

Ringo asks him more questions, about what kinds of shoots he does, which are his favourite, what do his days look like. And then the conversation turns the other way around, and Easy asks Ringo about his job, what he likes about it and what he doesn’t.

They run out of questions after that, and Ringo picks up his glass to take a sip when Easy speaks.

“Can I ask you something?” Ringo gives him a nod.

“Why did you message me again, after not having spoken for a long time?” Easy bites the inside of his cheek. It had been nagging him all day, ever since he agreed to have a drink with him.

Ringo shrugs. “I was about to delete the app and then I saw our chat with your picture next to it, and I wanted to do something about it before deleting it.” There’s a slight flush in his cheeks as he admits that, tentative eyes looking at Easy. “So I did.”

Easy grins, pressing his lips together to not look too smug. “I’m glad you did.”

They step outside about half an hour later, and it’s not too long before they have to go their separate ways in order to get home. “I have to go this way.” Easy says, nodding his head to the left.

“I need to go this way.” Ringo points in the opposite direction. They both put their hands in the pockets of their coats, swaying a little as they have to part but both linger.

“I had a nice time.” Ringo says, and Easy smiles at him. “So did I. I’m up for doing it again some time, if you want.”

Ringo nods at him. “Yeah, I’d like that too.” It stays quiet for a bit, neither of them saying anything, and it goes on for a bit too long so Easy feels the need to start talking again.

“So, I-” Ringo cuts him off, leaning forward and kissing him, knocking their foreheads together as Easy kisses him back after a second of surprise.

Easy tugs on Ringo’s coat, pulling him closer, and he can feel Ringo smile against his mouth. “Save something for the second date.” Ringo whispers teasingly when they part, and Easy grins at him.

“Goodnight Easy.” Ringo quickly kisses him one last time before walking off, looking back every now and then as Easy watches him.

Easy waves, keeps looking until Ringo’s out of sight, and then he feels his phone buzz, so he takes it out of his pocket.

Ringo has texted him a smiley face, after having gotten Easy’s number earlier.

Easy saves his number, and deletes the dating app.


	57. "Easy takes care of Ringo who needs some love and affection."

Ringo is quite an observant person in general, but sometimes it takes a while for his brain to figure out why he’s feeling the way he is.

It starts off as a work day like any other, but around eleven in the morning, Huber walks into his office, slapping down a stack of papers on his desk.  
“These numbers don’t add up at all, Beckmann. I pay you too much to be making these kinds of mistakes. Do it again.”   
His voice is raised quite a bit, even making Larissa snap her eyes up to what’s happening.  
Normally stuff like this doesn’t faze Ringo that much, but in this instance he finds himself mumbling an apology, keeping his eyes on his desk.

There’s an uneasy feeling swirling in his gut now, and as he goes over the numbers again, feeling stupid as he sees his mistakes and wonders how he missed that, the anxiety and tension in his body grows.  
He has the file done in forty minutes, and Ringo immediately drops them on Huber’s desk without saying a word. 

He returns to his own office and continues working, but he keeps getting distracted, and he hasn’t calmed down yet.  
He feels jumpy, and there’s an itch under his skin he can’t seem to get rid of.   
Ringo grabs his phone and texts Easy. _Hey, how’s work?_ Within a minute his phone buzzes. _Fine, not too busy. You?_  
He texts back. _Looking forward to going home._

It’s not often that he texts Easy, normally too occupied with work, but he finds himself texting Easy again when he still has an hour to go before he can go home.  
 _Are you cooking tonight or should I get something?_ It takes a little while before Easy texts back, and every now and then Ringo checks his phone before putting it aside again.

He grabs it again for the fourth time in two minutes and Larissa sighs. “Just go home.” When Ringo is about to protest, she cuts him off. “I’ll sort it out with my dad, don’t worry about it.”  
Ringo remains in his seat, a hesitant look on his face. “Go!” Larrisa says firmly, and Ringo gratefully thanks her before making his way downstairs, trying his hardest to ignore Huber eyes following him all the way to the door.

When Ringo opens the door to Easy’s apartment, Easy is sitting on the couch with a book, looking up when he hears the door open. “Hey. You’re early.” Ringo hums, taking off his coat and his shoes before making his way over to the couch.  
He sits down next to Easy, and Easy leans over to kiss him.   
“Hi.” Ringo whispers when Easy pulls back. Easy smiles at him, but Ringo doesn’t have it in him to return it.   
He sits next to Easy, eyes focused on his hands in his lap, and the same uncomfortable feeling tugs at him.  
“Everything okay?” Easy says quietly, in that tone which means he knows something _is_ wrong, but he wants to know if Ringo is ready to talk about it.  
Ringo sighs, biting the inside of his cheek as he tries to put into words what he’s feeling.

“Work wasn’t fun today.” He starts with, and he looks at Easy to see how he reacts, and it hits him how scared he is of saying something wrong, or stupid or silly.  
But Easy is sitting sideways, full attention on Ringo, ready to listen to whatever’s coming next, and it gives him the reassurance he needs to just talk about what he feels.  
“Huber got angry with me, because I made a mistake. And I think that mattered more to me than I thought it would.”

Easy reaches out and grabs one of Ringo’s hands, laying it flat on the space in between them and tracing lines across his palm with his finger.  
“Why do you think it bothered you so much?” Easy asks, his tone neutral. Ringo presses his lips together. “I don’t like it when people are angry with me, but especially him. He’s my boss. He’s someone… I want to impress.”

Easy nods, agreeing with him. “I’ve been feeling awful and tense all day, and even when I fixed my mistake it didn’t go away. The clock seemed to move slower than normal, and all I wanted to do was…” Ringo trails off.  
He needed Easy. The person who is willing to sit down with him and talk until Ringo feels like he can make sense of things again. The man who loves him, and cares for him. 

He wanted to go home, let Easy wrap his arms around him, pressing soft kisses into his hair and onto his cheek. But it’s one thing to know what you want, it’s another to tell the person you want it from.  
Ringo rarely actually verbalises it, and just the thought of it makes his cheeks flush with embarrassment.

He meets Easy’s eyes, and they’re the same warm and trusting eyes they always are, patiently waiting. “I just wanted to go home. To you.”  
Easy smiles gently at him. “And I felt like I needed a hug.” He can feel his face grow even hotter as he says it, and it’s almost physically painful coming out of his mouth, but it’s enough.  
There’s warm hands grabbing his own, and then Easy is laying back on the couch, pulling Ringo on top of him, holding his arms around Ringo’s torso once they’re both laying down.

Ringo feels a shiver going down his spine, and he lets go what he was holding all day long without realizing it. He rests his cheek onto Easy’s chest, and Easy rubs his back with his hand.  
He can feel Easy’s chest vibrate when he speaks. “I love you.” Ringo lifts his head to look at Easy, and he knows that Easy knows, understands how difficult it sometimes is for him.  
Ringo moves himself up a bit so he can kiss Easy. “I love you too.” He lays down again, closing his eyes as he revels in how comfortable he feels, how good Easy’s touch and care feels.  
“Best pillow ever.” Ringo mumbles, feeling Easy’s body shake as he laughs.


	58. "Ringo and Easy spend New Year's Eve together."

It’s about a week before New Year’s Eve, just before Christmas, when Easy first brings it up.

They’re in the kiosk together, Ringo having left work that little bit earlier which allows him to hang out with Easy before he closes up.

He’s chewing on a gummy worm when he notices Easy staring at him. Ringo nods upwards at him. “What?”

Easy grins at him, shakes his head a little with fond eyes as he looks at Ringo. “Have you thought about New Year’s Eve?”

Ringo stops chewing for a moment and thinks. “About what to do, you mean?” Easy hums in agreement.

He hadn’t really thought about it at that point.

They had sorted Christmas together: they were going to have a big meal and spend the evening with their friends, and the second day of Christmas would be all theirs.

Ringo had gone into that conversation thinking of pitching an isolated Christmas, the thought of laying in bed with Easy and watching movies all day being the perfect way to spend Christmas.

It’s probably how he’d spend his last day on earth, if he was honest.

But Easy’s eyes had lit up and glimmered as he told Ringo of what they could have, his face practically glowing as he tried to soften Ringo up to the idea of sitting with their friends, playing games and drinking champagne, going outside for the countdown with a sparkler in hand.

Ringo couldn’t really say no to that face. Those eyes made his chest feel all warm and melty, and if it made Easy happy like that, then that’s what Ringo wanted as well.

And when they’re all sat around the dinner table, one seat left empty for Elli with a single candlelight in front of it, Ringo is enjoying himself more than he thought he would.

They’ve finished with the fondue, and they’re doing that thing where they stay at the table for a long time, not eating but just chatting and enjoying each other’s company, and Ringo normally hates it, but like this it’s nice.

Everyone seems to be in a good mood, and the annoyances of everyday life were left at the door.

Bambi loses three pieces of bread consecutively in the melted cheese, and he looks so disappointed each time that everyone laughs, flushed cheeks and heads thrown back.

At one point Tobias comes out of the kitchen holding a bowl of salad, and he places it right in front of Easy’s nose with a pat on the head, murmuring something about Easy being his favourite flexitarian, and he grins as he winks at Ringo, and it’s so brotherly and familial that Ringo grins back as he swallows past a lump in his throat.

An hour and a half later, Saskia emerges from the kitchen with a trifle for dessert, and everyone groans as they take their first bite.

Ringo is pretty sure he’s still full from the fondue, but once there’s a plate in front of him, he starts eating again.

It’s completely silent next to him, and when he looks over Easy is blissfully chewing with his eyes closed, intently focussing on the flavors in his mouth, and Ringo smiles softly at first, and then a thought occurs Easy has probably made that exact face laying flat on his back with Ringo in between his knees, and then Ringo just presses his lips together as he tries to ignore the pull in the pit of his stomach.

When there’s still twenty minutes to go until midnight, they all decide to go outside, bottles of champagne in hand as they make their way downstairs.

Ringo sticks close to Easy, realising he might look a bit clingy but more afraid he won’t have Easy close once the new year begins.

There’s other groups of people there as well, most looking up as the first fireworks explode across the sky.

Easy has walked off for a moment, and Ringo stands by himself.

It feels familiar, and he’s reminded of how he spent New Year’s Eve last year, when Easy was being loved up with Hauke in front of him, and Ringo had never felt more alone.

He had been alone before, and he actually preferred it that way, but once he lost his heart to Easy, he didn’t _want_ to be alone anymore.

He’s lost in thought, reconnecting to that desolate and lonesome feeling, when a warm hand slips in his, and Easy hands him a glass of champagne with the other.

Ringo smiles adoringly at him, chest squeezing together as he’s grateful for having him by his side, and they clink glasses as they approach the last minutes of the year.

“I love you, Easy Winter.” Easy grins at him, clutching his hand. “I thought you were gonna say Easy Beckmann for a second there.” Easy looks him straight in the eye, one corner of his mouth tilted up as he throws back the last of his champagne.

Ringo can feel his heart beat a little bit faster at Easy’s words.

He smiles widely. “Patience.” Easy’s grin grows wider at that, and then everyone starts counting down.

In what is probably the most cheesy and cliché moment of his life, when there’s two seconds left, Ringo takes Easy’s glass and holds both of their glasses in one hand, using the other to wind around Easy’s waist and pulling him in, kissing him as the new year begins.

They don’t let each other go for a while, and Ringo feels drunk and dizzy in a way that feels like it has nothing to do with the champagne.

Easy feels Ringo’s hand slide down his back and lower, and he pulls back with a giggle, knocking his forehead against Ringo’s.

He says quietly, just for the two of them, “Best start to the year ever.”


	59. "Easy gets Kira to visit over the holidays and she sees how in love Ringo is."

It’s a strange time of year.

There’s Christmas-themed ads everywhere you turn, twinkly lights on every building and somehow it works every year, making the people give in to the festive cheer.

Ringo hated Christmas, for years on end. Not the holiday itself, not really. But the hollow, empty feeling that settled in his chest when he closed the door behind him, spending Christmas Eve in his bedroom alone, not wanting to be confronted with two empty chairs at the dinner table but also hating himself for not being able to be there for Kira.

He knows that family goes further than blood related, and his life has become richer for it. But that doesn’t take away the sorrow he feels when he misses his parents.

Easy loves Christmas. Loves it in that, I’m getting the tree out halfway through November, type of way. He’d been not so subtly dropping hints to Ringo about going ice-skating together, and when they went into a clothing store which had a mistletoe hanging above the door, Easy just smugly smiled at Ringo until he looked up, rolled his eyes but leaned in anyway, Easy gleefully smiling against his mouth.

Ringo loves seeing how joyful Easy is, how much he leans into the feelings of warmth and intimacy. But he also worries about how he looks in comparison. He doesn’t want Easy to notice his struggle with it, doesn’t want Easy to get upset because of it.

He doesn’t know how to deal with it, but he tries to do it alone. It’s nearly Christmas, when Easy is cooking dinner and Ringo is sitting on Easy’s bed, the door closed, a small square box in his lap. He’s looking through a thin stack of photos, of himself with Kira and their parents. They’re all casual photos, of everyday scenes, breakfasts shared on holiday, going to the cinema, eating at a restaurant to celebrate his and Kira’s birthdays. It’s not posed or polished, it’s the way his life was before they were taken away.

And it feels odd, because Ringo is happy. He has Easy, and he can’t imagine loving anyone more than him, he has his friends and his career. He doesn’t know what his life would look like now if his parents were still here, how different it would be and what they would think of him. His parents are a part of his past, and it hurts to be confronted with that.

He doesn’t hear the door open, just hears a soft, “hey.” from the doorway. Easy leans against it, eyes soft as he looks at Ringo. The photos go back in the box. Ringo knows there’s no point hiding it now, but he wants to avoid a conversation with this topic. He clears his throat, looking at Easy.

“We can eat in,” Easy checks his watch, taking a few seconds to think, “ten minutes.” Ringo nods and Easy returns to the kitchen.

Ringo falls back on the bed and stares at the ceiling. He can hear Easy walking around the apartment five minutes later, but he doesn’t think anything of it.

Christmas is two days away, and Ringo feels calmer about it then he thought he would be. Fighting the sadness makes it worse, whereas accepting that it’s there and that it exists makes it somewhat bearable.

Easy is anything but calm. They’re having a late breakfast together, and Easy keeps checking his phone. “Did you get me a puppy for Christmas or something?” Ringo asks, and Easy gives him a funny look. “Just eat your croissant.” Ringo sticks his tongue out as he takes a bite, and then the doorbell rings. He stays seated, but Easy gives him a look so he begrudgingly gets up.

He opens the door, and Kira is standing behind it. “Hey brother.” She grins, and it has barely sunk in when she has her arms around him, and he hugs her back, squeezing her close as he is reunited with his sister.

She pulls back, her hands on the sides of his face. “Look at you,” she whispers, her tone adoring and sisterly, her thumbs brushing over his cheeks and it’s so soft and affectionate Ringo can feel his throat closing up.

“What… how?” Ringo says, as he steps aside to let Kira in. She hangs her coat and then walks over to Easy, leaning down to hug him. Ringo watches as they exchange smiles, how normal and natural it looks, and then he sees the lack of surprise on Easy’s face.

“Maybe santa had a special surprise for you this year.” Kira says, shrugging at him as she sits down. Ringo presses his lips together and hums. Easy’s eyes find his and that’s all it takes. He walks over as he feels his eyes water, and Easy stands up to embrace him.

It feels a little awkward but Ringo pushes that away, lets a few tears fall as Easy holds him. “Thank you.” He whispers, and Easy pulls him in closer, pressing a kiss to his cheek. Ringo looks at Kira over Easy’s shoulder, and her eyes are soft and knowing, a smile around her lips.

Ringo volunteers to cook that night, and Kira helps him as Easy works on his laptop. The radio is on in the background, and every now and then they talk as they cut vegetables. Ringo looks back at Easy, then grabs a glass of water and walks over, setting it down next to him. Easy gives him a distracted ‘thanks’, and Ringo comes to stand behind him, placing his hands on Easy’s shoulder and pulling him towards himself to straighten his back a little.

Easy groans as Ringo squeezes his shoulders, moving his hands down his chest and holding his arms around him, leaning down to rest his chin on Easy’s shoulder.

“I really want to edit this out,” Easy points a finger at the screen, “but the background makes it kind of difficult.” Ringo hums, nestling his face in Easy’s neck as he presses kisses there. “Don’t work too hard. You’ll have fresh eyes tomorrow.” Easy turns his head with a smile, kissing Ringo’s lips. “I won’t, thank you.”

Ringo comes back to the counter, and picks up a knife again. “I’m really glad you found each other.” Kira casually comments, not taking her eyes of the chopping board. Ringo laughs a little. “Yeah? Why?” Kira shrugs.

“He’s good for you. And you’re good for him. And you so clearly love him, and I’m glad you do what your heart tells you.” Ringo smiles gratefully, pulls her into his side for a moment. “Thanks. I’m happy you’re here.”

They have dinner with the three of them, and dinner drags out with glasses of wine and dessert, and then they play card games.

“How is this the third time you’ve won?!” Ringo exclaims as Kira smugly collects the cards. “You’re just sour we’re not playing poker.”

Easy’s head turns to Ringo. “You know how to play poker?” Kira nods. “My dad taught him. They played game after game after game, because Ringo couldn’t stand losing.” Ringo takes a sip of his drink.

“Yeah, but he just taught me the rules. He wasn’t too good at bluffing and using your body language to your adventage.” Kira agrees with him. “And mum just kept telling dad that if you ever got addicted to gambling it would be his fault.” Ringo laughs as he remembers it. As it happens, he realises it’s one of the few times he thinks of his parents without being sad. He should really do that more often.

That night, when Kira is in Tobias’ room, Ringo and Easy lay in bed together. Ringo’s body is warm from the food and the wine and the company, and Easy’s fingers are in his hair. “I’m really proud of you.” Easy says, at the same time that Ringo says, “I love you.” They both laugh about it, and Ringo leans up to kiss Easy. Easy holds him there, pulls him in closer and places Ringo’s hands where he wants them.

Ringo goes along with it, kisses around Easy’s chest and stomach, just above his boxers, but then stops, his face hovering over Easy’s crotch. Easy looks down with a questioning look.

“Not to ruin the excitement, and I can tell you’re excited, but my sister is literally next door.” Easy rolls his eyes but giggles, and Ringo climbs over him and kisses his nose. Easy drops his head on Ringo’s chest. “Another time.” Ringo says. Easy yawns and nods. “We’ve got all the time in the world.”


End file.
